Hanno Möttölä

Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Brisbane Bullets of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes before playing two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks between 2000 and 2002, becoming the first player from Finland to play in the NBA.

College career Möttölä attended the University of Utah, in the United States, where he played college basketball under head coach Rick Majerus. He was a starter on the Utah Utes team that played in the final of the 1998 NCAA national championship tournament, which they lost to Kentucky.

Möttölä was named in the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2023.

Professional career After college, Möttölä was selected in the second round, with the 40th overall pick, in the 2000 NBA draft, by the Atlanta Hawks. He played two seasons in the NBA with the Hawks. He played in all 82 games during his sophomore (and final) season. His final NBA game was on April 17, 2002, in an 81–89 loss to the Boston Celtics where he recorded 1 steal and 2 rebounds.

After his time with the Hawks, he returned to Europe to play in the EuroLeague. He played in Spain with TAU Cerámica of the Liga ACB, where he suffered an ankle injury. Then he played in Italy with Skipper Bologna (in the 2003–04 season, his team reached the Italian League finals and EuroLeague Final). He also played in Italy with Scavolini Pesaro (from 2004 to 2005).

Möttölä also played in the Russian Super League with Dynamo Moscow, in the Lithuanian LKL League with Žalgiris Kaunas, and in the Greek Basket League (GBL) with Aris, after signing with the team on 26 July 2007.

Möttölä announced his retirement from playing basketball on 26 September 2008, but decided to return to basketball just nine months later. In September 2009, Möttölä signed with the Finnish team Torpan Pojat. He played in the team for four seasons, during which the team was the runner-up in the Finnish League championship (2009–10), in the Finnish Cup (2010–11), and finished in third-place in Finnish League (2011–12).

International career

Möttölä was a long-time member of the senior Finnish national basketball team. With Finland, he played at the 1995 EuroBasket, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2013 EuroBasket, and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Coaching career After ending his playing career, Möttölä has worked as the head coach of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky in second-tier Koripallon I-divisioona, and an assistant coach of Finland national team since 2019.

In May 2024, Möttölä was invited to coach at NBA G League Elite Camp and at the 2024 NBA draft combine event.

In August 2025, it was announced that Möttölä would join the coaching staff of the Canada men's national basketball team after the EuroBasket 2025 tournament with Finland.

In May 2026, Möttölä was appointed an assistant coach for the Brisbane Bullets of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).

Personal life Finnish ice hockey players, Jarkko Ruutu and Tuomo Ruutu, are Möttölä's second cousins.

Career statistics

NBA

EuroLeague

EuroCup †Denotes season in which Möttölä won the EuroCup

College

National team Team Tournament Finland EuroBasket 1995 13th EuroBasket 2011 9th EuroBasket 2013 9th 2014 FIBA World Cup 22nd