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The Most Famous

BASKETBALL PLAYERS from Finland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Finnish Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,268 Basketball Players, 5 of which were born in Finland. This makes Finland the birth place of the 29th most number of Basketball Players behind Poland and Belgium.

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Finnish Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous Finnish Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Hanno Möttölä

1. Hanno Möttölä (1976 - )

With an HPI of 33.54, Hanno Möttölä is the most famous Finnish Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He is currently working as a head coach of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky, and an assistant coach of Finland national team. A power forward, Möttölä played for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first player from Finland to play in the NBA.

Photo of Petteri Koponen

2. Petteri Koponen (1988 - )

With an HPI of 32.72, Petteri Koponen is the 2nd most famous Finnish Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Petteri Johannes Koponen (born 13 April 1988) is a Finnish former professional basketball player. Standing at 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄2 in), he played both point guard and shooting guard positions. He was drafted as the 30th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2007 NBA draft, and his NBA rights are currently held by the Dallas Mavericks.

Photo of Lauri Markkanen

3. Lauri Markkanen (1997 - )

With an HPI of 29.49, Lauri Markkanen is the 3rd most famous Finnish Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Lauri Elias Markkanen ( LAO-ree MAR-kə-nen; born 22 May 1997) is a Finnish basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Finnisher", he is the son of Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen, and the younger brother of footballer Eero Markkanen. Starting his career with HBA-Märsky in the Finnish second-tier league, Markkanen moved to the United States and played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats, where he earned First-team All-Pac-12 honors in his lone year with the team. He was selected seventh overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being included in a draft-night trade to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler. Following a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Markkanen experienced a career resurgence in his first year with the Jazz, earning his first All-Star selection and winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2023. Markkanen was named the Finnish Athlete of the Year in 2023, as the first basketball player ever to win the award.

Photo of Teemu Rannikko

4. Teemu Rannikko (1980 - )

With an HPI of 26.96, Teemu Rannikko is the 4th most famous Finnish Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Teemu Rannikko (born September 9, 1980) is a Finnish former professional basketball player and currently working as an assistant coach of Finland national team. He is 1.89 m (6' 2 1⁄2") tall, and he weighs 88 kg (195 lbs.). He mainly played at the point guard position. At his peak, he was known as a good scorer and a steady defender.

Photo of Sasu Salin

5. Sasu Salin (1991 - )

With an HPI of 26.57, Sasu Salin is the 5th most famous Finnish Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Sasu Antreas Salin (born June 11, 1991) is a Finnish professional basketball player for Lenovo Tenerife of the Spanish Liga ACB and the Basketball Champions League. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) he plays at the shooting guard position. Salin also captains the Finland national team.

Pantheon has 5 people classified as basketball players born between 1976 and 1997. Of these 5, 5 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living basketball players include Hanno Möttölä, Petteri Koponen, and Lauri Markkanen.

Living Basketball Players

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