Kristófer Acox Explained

Kristófer Acox
Height Cm:198
Weight Kg:101
League:Úrvalsdeild karla
Team:Valur
Number:13
Nationality:Icelandic
Birth Date:1993 10, df=y
Birth Place:Akranes, Iceland
High School:Spring Valley
(Columbia, South Carolina)
College:Furman (2013–2017)
Career Start:2009
Years1:2009–2010
Team1:KR
Years2:2011–2013
Team2:KR
Years3:2017
Team3:KR
Years4:2017
Team4:Star Hotshots
Years5:2017–2018
Team5:KR
Years6:2018
Team6:Denain Voltaire
Years7:2018–2020
Team7:KR
Years8:2020–present
Team8:Valur
Highlights:

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.[1] As a member of KR, he won the Icelandic championship 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.[2] [3]

Playing career

Kristófer played for four years at Furman University.[4] After finishing his college season in April 2017, he joined KR where he won the national championship.[5]

He played for the Star Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from September[6] [7] to October 2017 when he returned to KR.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] On 28 June, he exercised that option and signed with Denain Voltaire of the French LNB Pro B.[12] After struggling with ankle injuries and unhappiness with living in a mostly non-English speaking city,[13] 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.[14]

On 4 May 2019 he won his third national championship in a row with KR.[15] After the season he was named the Domestic Player of the Year for the second year in a row.[16]

In December 2019, Kristófer was hospitalised due to a kidney infection.[17]

On 7 September 2020, Kristófer announced that he was leaving KR due to an disagreement between him and the club.[18] Four days later, he signed with Reykjavík rivals Valur.[19] On 24 September, it was reported that KR was refusing to sign Kristófer's transfer papers to Valur[20] despite reportedly owing him millions ISK in unpaid salaries.[21] In turn, Páll Kolbeinsson, 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 and KR's physiotherapist where aware of them.[22] On 30 September, KR signed Kristófer's transfer papers, officially making him a Valur player.[23] After successfully suing KR, the team was ordered by the District Court of Reykjavík to pay him 10.3 millions ISK in unpaid salaries and 1.4 millions ISK for court costs.[24] [25]

In his Valur debut, Kristófer had 29 points and 13 rebounds in a 76-81 loss against Stjarnan.[26] 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.[27]

On 2 October 2022, he won the Icelandic Super Cup with Valur.[28] On 14 January 2023, he won the Icelandic Cup after Valur defeated Stjarnan in the Cup final.

On 24 September 2023, he won the Icelandic Super Cup after Valur defeated Tindastóll 80–72.[29]

Awards and accomplishments

Club honours

Individual awards

2018

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Jónsson. Einar Örn. Kristófer: Ekki kominn til að taka yfir. 24 August 2017. RÚV. March 31, 2017. is.
  2. News: Þórdís Lilja Gunnarsdóttir. Góður mömmustrákur. 20 October 2017. Vísir.is. 20 October 2017. is.
  3. News: Orri Páll Ormarsson . Hitti pabba sinn fyrst 14 ára . 12 May 2019 . . 12 May 2019 . is.
  4. News: Jónsson. Óskar Ófeigur. Kristófer Acox: Var að spila á móti strákum sem eru kannski að fara í NBA. 24 August 2017. Vísir.is. March 31, 2017. is.
  5. News: Reyndari menn verða að kenna mér að fagna. 24 August 2017. Mbl.is. April 30, 2017. is.
  6. News: Jónsson. Kristján. Kristó fer til Filippseyja. 12 September 2017. Morgunblaðið. September 11, 2017. is.
  7. News: Bjarnason. Hans Steinar. Kristófer Acox til Filippseyja. 12 September 2017. RÚV. September 11, 2017. is.
  8. News: Þátttöku Kristófers lokið í Filippseyjum . 28 June 2018 . karfan.is . 5 October 2017 . is.
  9. News: Kristófer bestur í úrslitakeppninni. 28 April 2018. Morgunblaðið. 28 April 2018. is.
  10. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson. Kristófer og Helena valin leikmenn ársins. 5 May 2018. Vísir.is. 4 May 2018. is.
  11. News: Bjarni Helgason . Hlutverk mitt hjá félaginu gæti breyst . 12 June 2018 . . 12 June 2018 . is.
  12. News: Kristófer kynntur til leiks hjá Denain . 28 June 2018 . Karfan.is . 28 June 2018 . is.
  13. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Kristófer og Elvar á leið til Íslands . 17 November 2018 . . 5 November 2018 . is.
  14. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Elvar og Kristófer lofa báðir að klára tímabilið hér heima . 17 November 2018 . . 16 November 2018 . is.
  15. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Umfjöllun: KR - ÍR 98-70 - KR Íslandsmeistari sjötta árið í röð . 5 May 2019 . . 4 May 2019 . is.
  16. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Helena og Kristófer valin best annað tímabilið í röð . 10 May 2019 . . 10 May 2019 . is.
  17. News: Ágúst Borgþór Sverrisson . Körfuboltastjarnan Kristófer Acox með alvarlega nýrnabilun – "Þetta eru mjög erfið veikindi" . 9 December 2019 . . 9 December 2019 . is.
  18. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Kristófer Acox staðfestir brottför frá KR . 7 September 2020 . Karfan.is . 7 September 2020 . is.
  19. News: Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson . Kristófer genginn í raðir Vals . 11 September 2020 . . 11 September 2020 . is.
  20. News: Sindri Sverrisson . KR neitaði að skrifa undir félagaskipti Kristófers . 24 September 2020 . . 24 September 2020 . is.
  21. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Kristófer segir KR skulda sér milljónir . 25 September 2020 . . 25 September 2020 . is.
  22. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Sakar Kristófer um að leyna meiðslum . 25 September 2020 . . 25 September 2020 . is.
  23. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Félagaskipti Kristófers loks í gegn . 30 September 2020 . . 30 September 2020 . is.
  24. News: Valur Páll Eiríksson . KR gert að greiða Kristófer tæpar 4 milljónir . 1 July 2021 . . 1 July 2021 . Icelandic.
  25. News: Freyr Gígja Gunnarsson . Kristófer Acox lagði KR í launadeilu . 1 July 2021 . . 1 July 2021 . Icelandic.
  26. News: Helgi Hrafn Ólafsson . Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Valur - Stjarnan 86-91 - Stjarnan lagði nýtt lið Vals í fyrsta leik . 10 January 2021 . . 2 October 2020 . Icelandic.
  27. News: Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson . Er harðasti Valsarinn í heiminum . 19 May 2022 . . 19 May 2022 . Icelandic.
  28. News: Árni Jóhannsson . Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Valur - Stjarnan 80-77 - Valur Meistarar meistaranna eftir spennuleik . 3 October 2022 . . 2 October 2022 . Icelandic.
  29. News: Arnar Skúli Atlason . Leik lokið: Tindastóll - Valur 72-80 - Valsmenn meistarar meistaranna eftir sigur á Króknum . 24 September 2023 . . 24 September 2023 . Icelandic.