_by_Sandro_Halank%25E2%2580%2593012.jpg) Giffey withBayern Munich in 2025 | |
| No. 5 – FC Bayern Munich | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward /Shooting guard |
| League | BBL EuroLeague |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1991-06-08)8 June 1991 (age 34) Berlin, Germany |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Heinrich Schliemann (Berlin, Germany) |
| College | UConn (2010–2014) |
| NBA draft | 2014:undrafted |
| Playing career | 2014–present |
| Career history | |
| 2014–2021 | Alba Berlin |
| 2021–2022 | Žalgiris Kaunas |
| 2022 | Murcia |
| 2022–present | Bayern Munich |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Niels Giffey (born 8 June 1991) is a German professionalbasketball player forBayern Munich of the GermanBasketball Bundesliga (BBL) and theEuroLeague. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he plays thesmall forward andshooting guard positions. He also represents theGermany national team.
He played collegiately for theUniversity of Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team. In his freshman year, he was part of the team that won the2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He was again one ofUConn's key players when they won the NCAA tournament for a second time in four years in 2014. Giffey and his UConn teammatesShabazz Napier and Tyler Olander are the only Division I men's basketball players in history to have won national championships as freshmen and seniors.[1]
Giffey was born on 9 June 1991 inBerlin.[2] He is the son of Frank and Christine Giffey. He attendedHeinrich-Schliemann-Oberschule gymnasium and competed for the club teamAlba Berlin.[3] His auntFranziska Giffey was the mayor ofBerlin.
Giffey committed to play basketball at theUniversity of Connecticut under coachJim Calhoun. As a freshman, he was a reserve on the squad which won the2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. After winning the tournament, he said, “It was such an emotional time for me, that this university, this team, became such a big part of my heart and became so close to me that it never crossed my mind to leave this place. I always felt it was about being a student-athlete at UConn. This school gave me so much when I won my national championship with this team.”[4] Giffey scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in thechampionship game againstButler. On the season, he averaged 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game.[3]
As a sophomore, Giffey averaged 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He missed the first game of the season after hyperextending his elbow in the preseason.[3]
As a junior, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.[3] He injured his knee in a game againstCincinnati on 3 March 2013 and missed the remainder of the season.[5]
In the semifinal game of the2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament Giffey scored a career-high 24 points, including 6 three-pointers, to help Connecticut defeatMemphis 72–53 on 14 March 2014.[6]
Following graduation, Giffey played on the 2014Memphis Grizzlies summer league team and then theUtah Jazz summer league team.[7] On 15 July 2014, the German teamAlba Berlin announced that they had signed him for three seasons.[8]
On 29 July 2019, Giffey extended his contract with Alba for two more seasons, until 2022.[9] Serving as the Berlin team captain, Giffey won the German national championship[10] as well as the German Cup competition in 2020.[11] During the 2020–21 season, he averaged 8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
On 18 June 2021, Giffey signed withŽalgiris Kaunas of theLithuanian Basketball League (LKL).[12] On 17 June 2022, he parted ways with the club.[13]
On 11 October 2022, Giffey signed a short-term deal withUCAM Murcia of theLiga ACB.[14]
On 8 November 2022, Giffey signed withBayern Munich of theBasketball Bundesliga (BBL) until the end of the 2024–25 season.[15]
Giffey first represented Germany in international competition at the youth level, during the2007 FIBA U16 European Championship Division B. He would finish the event leading theGermany U16 national team in both scoring at 14.7 points, and rebounding at 5.8 per game.[16] The following year, he was named to theGermany U18 national team for the2008 FIBA U18 European Championship. Giffey finished the tournament averaging 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.[17]
Two years later, Giffey was selected to theGermany U20 national team for the2011 FIBA U20 European Championship. Giffey would complete the event with averages of 10.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.[18]
Giffey's first tournament with the seniorGermany national team came atEuroBasket 2013, where he contributed with averages of 9.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.[19]
The next international tournament for Giffey with Germany, would occur six years later, at the2019 FIBA World Cup, where he played a limited role during the competition.[20] At the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Giffey finished the event averaging 7.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.[21]
In 2022, Giffey helped Germany earn a bronze medal finish at theEuroBasket, producing 5.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.[22] The following year, he was a member of Germany's2023 FIBA World Cup title winning squad, averaging 3.1 points per game during the event.[23]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Alba Berlin | 24 | 15 | 15.2 | .443 | .396 | .400 | 2.3 | .2 | .5 | .1 | 4.9 | 2.6 |
| 2019–20 | 28* | 8 | 18.8 | .486 | .478 | .851 | 2.2 | 1.2 | .8 | .3 | 8.8 | 7.6 | |
| 2020–21 | 24 | 5 | 20.0 | .487 | .418 | .792 | 2.9 | 1.4 | .8 | .4 | 8.1 | 8.3 | |
| 2021–22 | Žalgiris | 28 | 5 | 16.3 | .430 | .345 | .882 | 2.7 | .8 | .6 | .1 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
| 2022–23 | Bayern Munich | 26 | 4 | 19.4 | .500 | .482 | .929 | 2.6 | .7 | .7 | .0 | 6.8 | 6.7 |
| 2023–24 | 31 | 7 | 13.1 | .382 | .277 | .733 | 1.7 | .4 | .5 | .0 | 3.0 | 2.6 | |
| Career | 161 | 44 | 17.0 | .462 | .405 | .823 | 2.4 | .8 | .6 | .2 | 6.1 | 5.4 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | Alba Berlin | 6 | 3 | 17.7 | .318 | .222 | 1.000 | 3.5 | 1.0 | .7 | — | 4.8 | 6.3 |
| 2016–17 | 14 | 10 | 19.4 | .478 | .429 | .917 | 2.4 | .9 | .6 | .1 | 6.6 | 5.3 | |
| 2017–18 | 12 | 4 | 19.7 | .451 | .387 | .588 | 2.8 | 1.3 | .6 | .2 | 7.2 | 6.9 | |
| 2018–19 | 24 | 2 | 21.1 | .482 | .427 | .793 | 2.8 | 1.3 | .8 | .3 | 10.5 | 9.9 | |
| Career | 56 | 19 | 20.1 | .465 | .409 | .803 | 2.8 | 1.2 | .7 | .2 | 8.2 | 7.7 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | UCAM Murcia | 1 | 0 | 23.8 | .750 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 4.0 | — | 2.0 | — | 10.0 |
| Career | 1 | 0 | 23.8 | .750 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 4.0 | — | 2.0 | — | 10.0 | |
| Year | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 |  Lichterfelde | ProB | 17 | 10.9 | .333 | .308 | .667 | 1.2 | .8 | .2 | — | 2.4 |
| 2014–15 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 42 | 17.0 | .471 | .450 | .700 | 2.7 | .7 | .4 | .3 | 6.8 |
| 2015–16 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 21 | 19.1 | .438 | .350 | .903 | 3.9 | .8 | .5 | .1 | 6.0 |
| 2016–17 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 37 | 21.2 | .545 | .384 | .746 | 3.9 | 1.3 | .8 | .4 | 8.1 |
| 2017–18 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 42 | 18.7 | .502 | .478 | .825 | 2.6 | 1.0 | .9 | .4 | 7.9 |
| 2018–19 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 40 | 19.1 | .523 | .353 | .921 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | .1 | 9.6 |
| 2019–20 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 29 | 19.1 | .525 | .385 | .924 | 2.9 | 1.3 | .5 | .2 | 10.2 |
| 2020–21 | Alba Berlin | BBL | 34 | 20.3 | .502 | .400 | .892 | 3.6 | 1.3 | .6 | .1 | 10.2 |
| 2021–22 |  Žalgiris | LKL | 39 | 18.5 | .458 | .385 | .826 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | .1 | 5.9 |
| 2022–23 |  UCAM Murcia | ACB | 4 | 20.6 | .400 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | .2 | 5.0 |
| 2022–23 | Bayern Munich | BBL | 32 | 21.5 | .478 | .410 | .882 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .6 | .2 | 7.4 |
| 2023–24 | Bayern Munich | BBL | 41 | 17.9 | .533 | .446 | .806 | 2.6 | .9 | .8 | .3 | 5.8 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Connecticut | 41 | 10 | 9.9 | .403 | .324 | .810 | 1.4 | .4 | .2 | .1 | 2.2 |
| 2011–12 | Connecticut | 30 | 4 | 11.7 | .446 | .429 | .792 | 1.5 | .4 | .3 | .2 | 2.6 |
| 2012–13 | Connecticut | 28 | 1 | 21.0 | .417 | .294 | .878 | 3.6 | .6 | .9 | .3 | 4.9 |
| 2013–14 | Connecticut | 40 | 16 | 24.7 | .540 | .483 | .727 | 3.8 | .8 | .7 | .5 | 8.4 |
| Career | 139 | 31 | 16.7 | .476 | .421 | .789 | 2.5 | .6 | .5 | .3 | 4.6 | |
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