James Metecan Birsen (born April 6, 1995) is a Turkish-Irish professional

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 for Fenerbahçe of the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

(BSL) and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. Standing at , he plays at the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

positions.

Professional career

Birsen grew up with the Fenerbahçe Ülker juniors team and he made his debut with Fenerbahçe during the 2011–12 season. On 26 August 2014, he was loaned for a season to Olin Edirne, later renamed as Eskişehir Basket. Then Olin Edirne relocated to Eskişehir as Eskişehir Basket. Over 23

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

games played in the 2014–15 season, he averaged 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. On 12 June 2018, Birsen was announced by

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

, where he signed a 2-year contract. On July 17, 2019, he has signed 1-year deal with

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name A Turkish name consists of an ''ad'' or an ''isim'' (given name; plural ''adlar'' and ''isimler'') and a ''soyadı'' or ''soyisim'' (surname). Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While th ...

of the

. On June 29, 2021, Birsen signed a three-year (2+1) deal with Fenerbahçe of the

and the

, returning to the club after six seasons. On May 30, 2023, he renewed his contract through 2026.

Turkish national team

He has been member of the Turkish Under-16 and Under-18 national team. He won the bronze medal at the 2010 European U-16 Championship.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , 8 , , 1 , , 5.5 , , .286 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , , , .4 , , .1 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 1 , , 3.9 , , .600 , , .333 , , , , .4 , , .3 , , , , .1 , , 1.4 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3", Fenerbahçe , 14 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .250 , , .222 , , .333 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 28 , , 3 , , 7.7 , , .345 , , .323 , , .667 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , .1 , , .0 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2024–25† , 2 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .500 , , , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , , , , , , , 2.0 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 61 , , 5 , , 6.5 , , .417 , , .289 , , .579 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.5 , , 1.2

Basketball Champions League

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

, 14 , , 7 , , 21.8 , , .432 , , .300 , , .800 , , 5.5 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 7 , , 21.8 , , .432 , , .300 , , .800 , , 5.5 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.4

FIBA Europe Cup

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 10 , , 22.4 , , .427 , , .300 , , .786 , , 5.4 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 8.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 10 , , 22.4 , , .427 , , .300 , , .786 , , 5.4 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 8.7

Domestic leagues

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:right;" ! Year ! Team ! League ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBL , , 2 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , , , .5 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, , style="text-align:left;",

İstanbul BB Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, , style="text-align:center;",

TB2L The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a ...

, , 17 , , 12.6 , , .478 , , .250 , , .613 , , 3.6 , , .6 , , .1 , , .1 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBL , , 6 , , 4.4 , , .556 , , .333 , , .500 , , .7 , , .3 , , .2 , , , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2013–14† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBL , , 27 , , 10.7 , , .488 , , .382 , , .613 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .3 , , .0 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , , style="text-align:left;",

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, , style="text-align:center;", TBL , , 22 , , 13.7 , , .419 , , .182 , , .667 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 27 , , 13.7 , , .455 , , .351 , , .581 , , 3.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 22 , , 16.7 , , .427 , , .333 , , .690 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , , style="text-align:left;",

Sakarya BB Sakarya may refer to: Places * Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago * Sakarya, Ardanuç, a village in Artvin Province, Turkey * Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Province, Turkey * Sakarya gas field, in the Black Sea * ...

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 25 , , 25.6 , , .432 , , .171 , , .706 , , 6.1 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .1 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2018–19† , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 35 , , 13.0 , , .435 , , .352 , , .818 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 23 , , 22.2 , , .473 , , .329 , , .632 , , 4.8 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 32 , , 23.3 , , .430 , , .360 , , .692 , , 5.4 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2021–22† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 41 , , 16.3 , , .449 , , .300 , , .780 , , 2.9 , , .9 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 22 , , 22.2 , , .446 , , .397 , , .548 , , 4.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2023–24† , , style="text-align:left;", Fenerbahçe , , style="text-align:center;", TBSL , , 17 , , 9.1 , , .276 , , .091 , , .286 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.1

Personal life

He was born to a Turkish father and an Irish mother.Turkish youngsters
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