Hlynur Elías Bæringsson (born 6 July 1982) is an Icelandic former

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. During his career, he won the Icelandic championship twice, in 2010 as a member of Snæfell and in 2025 with Stjarnan. In 2011 he won the Swedish championship as a member of Sundsvall Dragons. Hlynur was a key player with the Icelandic national team when it made its first appearance in

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and again in

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 ...

. He is one of eight players who have played at least 120 games for the team. A prolific rebounder, he led the Úrvalsdeild karla in rebounds twice and the Basketligan once. In 2019, he became the Úrvalsdeild karla all-time career rebounding leader.

Basketball career

Club career

Hlynur started his career with Skallagrímur in the Icelandic

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

in 1997 but moved to Snæfell in 2002. He spent the next three seasons there, losing to

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

in the national finals in 2004 and 2005. In 2005 Hlynur joined Woon! Aris Leeuwarden of the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. For the season he averaged 11.8 ppg and 11.0 rpg and appeared in the Dutch all-star game. He rejoined Snæfell after the season and spent the next four seasons there. Snæfell once again lost to Keflavík in the 2008 finals before finally beating them in 2010 and winning the first Icelandic championship in the history of the club. From 2010 to 2016, Hlynur played in the Swedish Basketligan for Sundsvall. In 2011 he won the Swedish championship and in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

he was named the Basketligan's best defender. In August 2016 Hlynur signed with Stjarnan of the Icelandic

. On 23 March 2018 Hlynur was fouled hard by Ryan Taylor in game three of Stjarnan's first round series against ÍR. After the game he experienced

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

like symptoms and was ultimately ruled out of game four which Stjarnan eventually lost. Although Taylor received an unsportsmanlike foul, he was not ejected from the game. After the game he received a three-game suspension from the league. On 20 April 2018 Hlynur signed a two-year contract extension with Stjarnan. On 4 May 2018 Hlynur was named to the Úrvalsdeild Karla Domestic All-First Team. On 17 February 2019, Hlynur had 13 points and 14 rebounds in Stjarnan's 84–68 victory against Njarðvík in the Icelandic Cup finals. In May 2019, Hlynur was named to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team. On 4 March 2019, Hlynur became the Úrvalsdeild all-time career assists leader, surpassing Guðmundur Bragason. Stjarnan opened the 2019–20 season with a 89–77 win against reigning champions KR in the annual Icelandic Super Cup where Hlynur posted 12 points and 7 rebounds. On 5 January 2020, he appeared in an Úrvalsdeild game for the fourth different decade. On 15 February 2020, Hlynur won the Icelandic Cup for the fourth time after Stjarnan's 75-89 win against Grindavík in the Cup final. On 19 March 2022, he won his fifth Icelandic Basketball Cup when Stjarnan defeated reigning national champions Þór Þorlákshöfn in the 2022 Cup Finals. On 21 May 2025, he won the Icelandic championship for the second time in his career. Following the title clinching game, he announced his retirement from basketball.

National team career

Hlynur was a part of the first Icelandic national basketball team to qualify for a

tournament, in 2015. He also played at EuroBasket 2015 with Iceland, where he averaged 10.8 points and 7 rebounds per game. On 7 September 2016 Hlynur became the thirteenth player to play 100 games for the national team. Hlynur participated with Iceland at

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 ...

. In February 2019, Hlynur announced that the Iceland's upcoming game against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 21 February 2019 would be his last for the national team. He retired after Iceland's 91–67 victory, where he led all players with 12 rebounds along with his 7 points. In July 2019, Hlynur agreed to return to the team for its games against

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the EuroBasket 2021 qualification due to injuries in the squad. In February 2023, Hlynur once again returned to the national team ahead of its games against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. On 23 February against Spain, he became the oldest player to play for the national team, breaking Alexander Ermolinskij's record from 1997, and the first one to play for it after turning 40 years old.

Honours

Iceland

Club

* Icelandic Champion:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Icelandic Basketball Cup: 2008, 2010,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* Icelandic Super Cup: 2019, 2020 * Icelandic Company Cup: 2004, 2007

Individual

* Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year: 2008, 2010 * Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP: 2010 * Úrvalsdeild Defense Player of the Year: 2008,

* Úrvalsdeild Young Player of the Year:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

* Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team: 2002–2004, 2007, 2008,

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 ...

* Úrvalsdeild karla rebounding leader: 2009, 2010

Netherlands

Individual

* Dutch All-Star game: 2006

Sweden

Club

* Swedish Champion:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual

* Defense Player of the Year:

* Basketligan rebounding leader:

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 ...

References

External links

Icelandic statistics 2009-present
at Icelandic Basketball Association
Úrvalsdeild statistics 1997-2007
at Icelandic Basketball Association
Eurobasket.com profile

Basketligan statistics
at basketliganherr.se {{DEFAULTSORT:Baeringsson, Hlynur 1982 births Living people Aris Leeuwarden players Dutch Basketball League players Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Power forwards Sundsvall Dragons players Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson Hlynur Baeringsson 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen