Simon Fredrik Stefan Birgander (born 23 October 1997) is a Swedish 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 UCAM Murcia CB in the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

Career

He cut his teeth in the youth ranks of Helsingborg Basket in his native Sweden before making his debut in the country's second-tier league Basketettan in the early stages of the 2015–16 season. He had a tremendous presence inside in terms of blocking shots (5.8 bpg) in Basketettan play, while averaging 11.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per contest (12 games played). Birgander left Sweden in January 2016 to head to Spain, where he joined CB Clavijo of the LEB Gold, the second-tier division. He was also made eligible to play for EBA side Natural Rioja Vintage Clavijo. In EBA play, he was a major contributor on the defensive end of the court, averaging 3.6 blocks a game in 14 games of the 2015–16 campaign, while scoring 7.4 points and pulling down 9.3 rebounds per outing. In April 2017, Birgander put his name into the 2017 NBA draft. Two months later, he became one of only 10 international underclassmen to remain in the NBA Draft that year. However, he went undrafted. He signed with Joventut de Badalona of the Spanish top-flight

in July 2017. In 2019 and 2020, he was injured (

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

) and unable to play for a total of 352 days. On July 1, 2023, Birgander signed with fellow Liga ACB side UCAM Murcia CB.

International career

Birgander was a key member of the Swedish under-18 national team who won gold at the 2015 Division B European Championship, averaging 3.8 points, 6.0 boards as well as a tournament-high 2.5 blocks a game. In 2016, he averaged 7.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest at the under-20 European Championships in Finland.

References

External links

Profile
at feb.es

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Birgander, Simon 1997 births Living people CB Clavijo players CB Murcia players Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Power forwards Sportspeople from Helsingborg Swedish expatriate basketball people in Spain Swedish men's basketball players 21st-century Swedish sportsmen