Einar Gunnar Bollason (born 6 November 1943) is an Icelandic former basketball player, coach and TV analyst.[1][2] As a player, he won the Icelandic championship six times with KR. In 2001, he was named to the Icelandic basketball team of the 20th century and the coach of the 20th century by the Icelandic Basketball Association. In 2020, he received the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon from the president of Iceland.[3]

Einar Bollason
3rd Chairman of KKÍ
In office
1973–1976
Preceded byHólmsteinn Sigurðsson
Succeeded byPáll Júlíusson
Personal details
Born (1943-11-06) 6 November 1943 (age 81)
Reykjavík, Kingdom of Iceland
Basketball career
Personal information
Listed height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Career information
Playing career1958–1984
PositionCenter
Coaching career1966–1989
Career history
As player:
1958–1960ÍR
1961–1967KR
1967–1969Þór Akureyri
1969–1972KR
1976–1981KR
1981–1982FH
1983–1984Haukar
As coach:
1966–1967KR
1967–1969Þór Akureyri (Men's)
1968–1969Þór Akureyri (Women's)
1973–1974KR
1974–1976Iceland (Men's)
1977Iceland (Men's)
1979–1982Iceland (Men's)
1979–1980Fram (Men's)
1982–1986Haukar (Men's)
1984–1987Iceland (Men's)
1986–1988ÍR (Men's)
1988–1989Haukar (Men's)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career Úrvalsdeild karla statistics
Points2,914 (17.9 ppg)
Games163

Early life

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Einar was born in Vesturbær in Reykjavík.[4]

Playing career

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Club career

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Einar came up through the junior ranks of ÍR and played his first senior games at the age of 15. He later moved to KR where he spent the bulk of his career.[5]

Icelandic national team

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Between 1964 and 1978, Einar played 35 games for the Icelandic national basketball team.[6]

Coaching career

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Einar coached the men's national team in 1974–1976, 1977, 1979–1982 and 1984–1987. During his tenures the team played 133 games, winning 57.[7]

Team of the 20th century

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In 2001 Einar was voted to the Icelandic team of the 20th century in basketball, both as a player and a coach.[8]

Icelandic Basketball Association

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Einar served as the chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Association from 1973 to 1976.[9]

Career statistics in Icelandic top league

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Legend
  GP Games played  FGM  Field goals made
 FM  Free-throws made  FT  Free-throws taken
 FT%  Free-throw percentage  TP  Total Points
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Denotes seasons in which Einar won the Icelandic National championship
Led the league
Year Team GP FGM FM FT FT% TP PPG
1961-62 KR 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A 84 16,8
1962-63 KR 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A 139 17.4
1963-64 KR 3 N/A N/A N/A N/A 63 20.7
1964-65† KR 8 70 30 52 57.7% 170 21.3
1965-66† KR 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A 210 26.3
1966-67† KR 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A 207 20.7
1967-68 Þór 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A 192 19.2
1968-69 Þór 10 N/A 97 124 78.3% 318 31.8
1969-70 KR 10 74 85 194 81.7% 233 23.3
1970-71 KR 12 N/A N/A N/A N/A 292 24.3
1971-72 KR 14 133 38 49 77,6% 304 21.7
1976-77 KR 12 106 91 122 74.6% 303 25.3
1977-78† KR 13 83 44 62 71.0% 210 16.2
1978-79† KR 20 95 50 68 73.5% 240 12.0
1979-80 KR 1 1 0 0 N/A 2 2.0
1980-81 KR 5 3 0 0 N/A 6 1.2
1983-84 Haukar 14 10 6 13 46.2% 26 1.9
Career 163 N/A N/A N/A N/A 2914 17.9

Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case

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In 1976, Einar, along with three others, sat innocent for 105 days in solitary confinement after his sister and other suspects in the Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case (Icelandic: Guðmundar- og Geirfinnsmálið) had implicated them to the case.[2] He had been accused falsely by his step-sister, Erla Bolladóttir of having been involved in the case during her confessions. Erla was later sentenced to jail for perjury, as part of the Reykjavik Six, while Einar was released.

References

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  1. ^ Jónsson, Óskar Ófeigur (20 April 2011). "Hrafn og Fannar fetuðu í fótspor Gunnars og Einars Bolla". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Hef meiri tíma með hestunum". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). 1 April 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Hin íslenska Fálkaorða". forseti.is (in Icelandic). Office of the President of Iceland. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Hef meiri tíma með hestunum". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). 1 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  5. ^ Kjartan L. Pálsson (30 March 1979). "Þetta var sá síðasti hjá Einari". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 5.
  6. ^ "KKÍ | A landslið". kki.is. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Einar Bollason er sextugur í dag". kki.is. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  8. ^ Lið aldarinnar hjá KKÍ tilkynnt í bikarúrslitaleikjunum á laugardaginn
  9. ^ Einar Bollason er sextugur