The Valur men's basketball team, commonly known as Valur, is a

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 ...

team based in Reykjavík, Iceland. It is part of the Valur multi-sport club.

History

The club was founded as ''Gosi'' on 25 December 1951 and was one of the founding members of the Icelandic men's top division. On 22 December 1957 the club changed its name to ''Körfuknattleiksfélag Reykjavíkur'' (English: Reykjavík Basketball Club) and played under that name until 1970. On 3 October 1970 the club merged into Valur sports club and became its basketball department. Under the new name, Valur had considerable success in the 1980s, winning the Icelandic championship two times, in 1980 and 1983, and the Icelandic cup three times, 1980, 1981 and 1983. In 1992, Valur reached the Úrvalsdeild finals where it lost 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 ...

2–3. In 2022, Valur won its third national championship after beating Tindastóll in the Úrvalsdeild finals. On 2 October 2022, Valur won its first

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

, after defeating Icelandic Cup holders

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 ...

80–77. On 14 January 2023, Valur won its fourth Icelandic Cup title, and its first in 40 years, after defeating

in the Cup final.

Honours

Úrvalsdeild karla * Winners (4):

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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 ...

, 2024 Icelandic Cup * Winners (5): 1980, 1981, 1983,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, 2025 Icelandic Super Cup * Winners (2): 2022, 2023 Division I * Winners (2): 1997, 2002

Individual awards

Úrvalsdeild Men's Domestic Player of the Year 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 Ic ...

Kári Jónsson Kári Jónsson (born 27 August 1997) is an Icelandic basketball player who plays for Valur in the Úrvalsdeild karla. He was named to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team in 2016 when he helped Haukar to the Úrvalsdeild finals where the ...

– 2023 **

Kristófer Acox Kristófer Acox (born 13 October 1993) is an Icelandic basketball player for Valur of the Úrvalsdeild karla and a member of the Icelandic national basketball team, with whom he participated in the EuroBasket 2017. As a member of KR, he won t ...

– 2022 **

Magnús Matthíasson Magnús Helgi Matthíasson (born 25 February 1967) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. He played college basketball for Rice University. Club career After finishing his studies in the Un ...

– 1991 **

Rick Hockenos Richard Hockenos is an American former basketball player and coach. After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 1974 NBA draft he went on to play professionally in Europe. Early life Hockenos attended Bishop Duffy High School in Niagara Fall ...

– 1978 **

Torfi Magnússon Torfi Magnússon (born 6 June 1955) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. He was named the Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year in 1980 and won two national championships with ...

– 1982 **

Þórir Magnússon Þórir Magnússon (born 13 February 1948) is an Icelandic former basketball player and the former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. Nicknamed "Rocket Man", he was known as a high scoring guard and led the Icelandic Basketball ...

– 1974 *

Úrvalsdeild Men's Foreign Player of the Year 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 Ic ...

** Tim Dwyer – 1979, 1980, 1983 *

Úrvalsdeild Men's Domestic All-First Team The Úrvalsdeild karla Domestic All-First Team is an annual Úrvalsdeild karla honor bestowed on the best domestic players in the league following every season. It has been awarded since the 1987-88 season. All-time award winners References ...

– 2023 **

– 2021, 2022, 2023 **

– 1991, 1993 **

Tómas Holton Tómas Albert Tómasson Holton (born 8 July 1964) is an Icelandic former basketball player and coach. In 1983, he won the Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball), Icelandic championship and the Icelandic Men's Basketball Cup, Icelandic Cup as a member o ...

– 1989 *

Úrvalsdeild Men's Young Player of the Year The Men's Young Player of the Year is an annual Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball), Úrvalsdeild honor bestowed on the best young player in the league following every season. The winner receives the Örlygur Cup, named after Örlygur Aron Sturluson. ...

Besti ungi leikmaður úrvalsdeildar karla
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– 1991 * 1. deild karla Player of the Year **Ragnar Jónsson – 1997 * 1. deild karla Coach of the Year **

– 1997 * Icelandic Cup Finals MVP **

– 2023 ** Taiwo Badmus – 2025

Notable players

Coaches

Ólafur Þór Thorlacius Ólafur Þór Thorlacius (born 21 October 1936) is an Icelandic former multi-sport athlete. He played several seasons in the Icelandic basketball and handball tournaments and was a member of the Icelandic national basketball team. Basketball ...

1970–1974 *

Guðmundur Þorsteinsson Guðmundur Þorsteinsson (1 October 1942 – 16 January 2011) was an Icelandic basketball player and coach. Playing the center position, he was considered one of the best Icelandic basketball players of his generation and was a key player in ÍR ...

1974–1976 * Tim Dwyer 1978–1980, 1982–1983 *

Vladimir Obuchov Vladimir Obukhov (Russian: Владимир Николаевич Обухов) (21 August 193516 July 2020) was a Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach. He was a Merited Coach of the Soviet Union and Honoured coach of Russia. Life a ...

1990–1991 *

1991–1992 *

Svali Björgvinsson Svali Hrannar Björgvinsson (born 24 May 1967) is an Icelandic business man, sportscaster and former basketball player. Basketball career Club career Svali played his first senior game with Valur in the Úrvalsdeild karla during the 1984–1 ...

1992–1993, 1994, 1997–1999 *

Ágúst Björgvinsson Ágúst Sigurður Björgvinsson (born 16 January 1979) is an Icelandic professional basketball coach who last coached Úrvalsdeild karla club Valur. He was the head coach of the Icelandic women's national basketball team from 2007 to 2009 and ...

2011–2019 *

Finnur Freyr Stefánsson Finnur Freyr Stefánsson (born 29 October 1983) is an Icelandic professional basketball coach. With KR, he won the Icelandic championship five years in a row from 2014 to 2018 and the Icelandic Men's Basketball Cup in 2016 and 2017. He has ser ...

2020–present

European record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valur Valur (basketball)