Brynjar Þór Björnsson (born 11 July 1988) 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 (appro ...

player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. He has won the Icelandic championship eight times and the Icelandic Basketball Cup three times with KR and is the club's all-time leader in scoring and games played.

Playing career

Early career

In the fifth and deciding game of the 2007 Úrvalsdeild Finals against Snæfell, Brynjar made a three-point shot with 3 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 68–68 and send it to overtime. KR prevailed in overtime, winning the game 76–74 and its tenth national championship.

College

Brynjar played for

Francis Marion University Francis Marion University is a public university near Florence, South Carolina. It is named in honor of American Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion. History The university dates back to 1957, when the University of South Caroli ...

from 2008 to 2009. He left the school in January 2009.

Sweden

In 2011, Brynjar joined

Jämtland Basket KFUM Jämtland Basket is a basketball club founded in based in Östersund, Sweden. Founded in 1956, the team plays in the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), the Swedish top basketball league. Home games are played in the Östersunds Sporthall, which ...

of the Swedish

Basketligan Svenska Basketligan, or the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), is the premier league for professional basketball in Sweden. The league was originally established in 1992 as Basketligan and was known as that prior to the season of 2006–07, but whe ...

and for the season he averaged 10.4 points per game and made 40.8 percent of his

three point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, ...

Return to KR

He rejoined KR in 2012 and helped the club win the national championship four times in a row, from 2014 to 2017. He resigned with KR in 2017 after contemplating a move to

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór (, ), commonly known as Þór Akureyri (), or simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, in the north of Iceland. It features departments in basketball, football, handball and taekwondo. Its main rival is ...

. On 10 November 2017 Brynjar became KR's all-time leading scorer in the Úrvalsdeild, surpassing

Guðni Ólafur Guðnason Guðni Ólafur Guðnason (born 14 December 1965) is an Icelandic former basketball player and coach who played 76 games for the Icelandic national team. In 1986 he was named the Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year. As a member of KR, he wo ...

who scored 3144 points for KR. On 12 March 2018 Brynjar broke a finger on practice and was expected to miss KR's first round playoff series against

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. ...

. On 25 April 2018 Brynjar scored a

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

to give KR a 75–77 victory against Tindastóll and a 2–1 lead in the Úrvalsdeild finals series. On 28 April he won his eight Icelandic championship after KR defeated Tindastóll in the fourth game of the series.

Tindastóll

On 8 June 2018 Brynjar left KR and signed with rivals Tindastóll. On 30 September, he won the Icelandic Super Cup after Tindastóll beat KR, 103–72. On 9 December Brynjar set the Úrvalsdeild record for most three-pointers made in a game when he made 16 of 31 three-point shots, on his way to 48 points, in a victory against Breiðablik, breaking Frank Booker's 27-year-old record. In April 2019, Tindastóll agreed to release him from his contract following the team's first round exit in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs.

Third stint with KR

On 29 June 2019, Brynjar returned to KR. On 5 March 2020 he announced he would not play in KR's upcoming game 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. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

due to the

coronavirus pandemic in Iceland The COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020. , the to ...

without consulting the team first. Shortly later, on 13 March 2020 with each team having one game left, the season was postponed, and later canceled due to the pandemic. In August 2022, Brynjar announced his retirement from top-tier basketball.

Icelandic national team

From 2007 to 2017, Brynjar played 68 games for the Icelandic national team. He retired from the national team in February 2018.

Awards and accomplishments

Club honours

* Icelandic Champion (8): 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* Icelandic Basketball Cup (3): 2011, 2016, 2017 * Icelandic Super Cup (3): 2007, 2014, 2015, 2018 * Icelandic Company Cup (2): 2008, 2014

Individual awards

* Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team (2): 2010, 2011 * Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP : 2016 * Úrvalsdeild Young Player of the Year: 2005

Personal life

Brynjar is the son of Björn M. Björgvinsson, the former chairman of the

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...

References

External links

Brynjar Björnsson stats
at basketball.realgm.com
Brynjar Björnsson stats
at kki.is {{DEFAULTSORT:Brynjar Thor Bjornsson Bjornsson, Brynjar Thor Bjornsson, Brynjar Thor Francis Marion Patriots men's basketball players Icelandic expatriate basketball people in Sweden Icelandic expatriate basketball people in the United States Icelandic men's basketball players Jämtland Basket players KR men's basketball players Bjornsson, Brynjar Thor Basketball players from Reykjavík Ungmennafélagið Tindastóll men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen