Kristófer Acox (born 13 October 1993) is an Icelandic
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player for
Valur of the
Úrvalsdeild karla and a member of the
Icelandic national basketball team, with whom he participated in the
EuroBasket 2017
EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...
. He has won the Icelandic championship with
KR three times in a row from 2017 to 2019. In 2022, he added his fourth championship, this time with Valur and in 2023, he won the Icelandic Cup for the first time.
Early years
Kristófer was born on 13 October 1993 to Edna María Jacobsen, who is half Icelandic and half
Faroese, and
Terry Acox, an American basketball player who played professionally in Iceland with
Körfuknattleiksfélag ÍA. He grew up with his mother and grandmother. Kristófer played both football and basketball in his youth for nine years, turning fully to basketball at the age of fourteen after being selected to the Icelandic U-15 national basketball team.
Playing career
Kristófer played for four years at
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
. After finishing his college season in April 2017, he joined
KR where he won the
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
.
He played for the
Star Hotshots
The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migu ...
of the
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
(PBA) from September to October 2017 when he returned to KR.
On 28 April 2018, Kristófer won his second consecutive national championship with KR after beating Tindastóll 3-1 in the Úrvalsdeild Finals where he was also named the
Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP. After the season he was named both the
Úrvalsdeild Karla Domestic Player of the Year and the
Úrvalsdeild Karla Defensive Player of the Year, and to the
Úrvalsdeild Karla Domestic All-First Team.
On 12 June 2018, Kristófer signed a two-year contract extension with KR with the option to leave if he received an offer from a bigger club. On 28 June, he exercised that option and signed with
Denain Voltaire of the French
LNB Pro B
The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the French basketball league system, 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since t ...
. After struggling with ankle injuries and unhappiness with living in a mostly non-English speaking city, he reached an agreement with the club to be released from contract in middle of November that year. Shortly later he signed back with KR for the rest of the season.
On 4 May 2019 he won his third national championship in a row with KR. After the season he was named the Domestic Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
In December 2019, Kristófer was hospitalised due to a kidney infection.
On 7 September 2020, Kristófer announced that he was leaving KR due to an disagreement between him and the club. Four days later, he signed with Reykjavík rivals
Valur. On 24 September, it was reported that KR was refusing to sign Kristófer's transfer papers to Valur despite reportedly owing him millions
ISK in unpaid salaries. In turn,
Páll Kolbeinsson
Páll Hermann Kolbeinsson (born 17 April 1964) is an Icelandic former basketball player and coach, and a former member of the Icelandic national team. He was named the Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year and Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of ...
, a board member of KR's basketball department, stated that the board believed that it did not owe Kristófer any unpaid salary. He further claimed that board believed that he had hid the extent of his injuries before signing a contract extension in 2019 although evidence did show that both the then head coach
Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
Ingi Þór Steinþórsson (born 9 May 1972) is an Icelandic professional basketball coach. He last coached Úrvalsdeild karla club KR.
As head coach, Ingi Þór has won the Icelandic men's national championship and the women's national champ ...
and KR's
physiotherapist
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...
where aware of them. On 30 September, KR signed Kristófer's transfer papers, officially making him a Valur player. After successfully suing KR, the team was ordered by the District Court of Reykjavík to pay him 10.3 millions ISK in undpaid salaries and 1.4 millions ISK for court costs.
In his Valur debut, Kristófer had 29 points and 13 rebounds in a 76-81 loss against
Stjarnan
Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...
. For the season he averaged 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds and helped Valur finish 4th and secure their first playoff seat since 1992. In the playoffs, Valur lost to
KR in five games in the first round.
During his second season við Valur, Kristófer upped his averages to 15.0 points and 11.3 rebounds with Valur finishing third in the league during the regular season. On 18 May 2022, he won his fourth national championship when Valur defeated Tindastóll in the Úrvalsdeild finals.
On 2 October 2022, he won the
Icelandic Super Cup with Valur.
On 14 January 2023, he won the Icelandic Cup after Valur defeated
Stjarnan
Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...
in the Cup final.
Awards and accomplishments
Club honours
*
Icelandic Champion (4):
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
*
Icelandic Cup : 2023
*
Icelandic Super Cup : 2022
Individual awards
*
Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year : 2018, 2019, 2022
*
Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team : 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
*
Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP : 2018
*
Úrvalsdeild Defensive Player of the Year: 2018
References
External links
Kristofer Acoxat basketball.realgm.com
Kristofer Acoxat eurobasket.com
Kristófer Acoxat pba.ph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acox, Kristofer
1993 births
Living people
Denain Voltaire Basket players
Furman Paladins men's basketball players
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox
Philippine Basketball Association imports
Power forwards (basketball)
Kristofer Acox
Magnolia Hotshots players
Kristofer Acox
Kristofer Acox