By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Martin Hermannsson will be out for approximately six weeks following a serious thumb ligament injury sustained during ALBA Berlin’s Basketball Champions League victory over Karditsa Iaponiki on Wednesday.
After medicals performed following the setback in Round of 16 Gameday 3 of Season X, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, the team based in the German capital updated the status of the 31-year-old Icelandic combo guard on Friday.
The tests at UKB Berlin confirmed the severity of the damage. Therefore, Hermannsson will miss several key games at both club and international levels.
Over seven appearances in the 2025-26 edition of the Champions League until the clash with Karditsa in Uber Arena, Hermannsson tallied 9.0 points on 42.3% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc, 6.4 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per contest, helping ALBA qualify to the Round of 16 as the top seed of Group B, and start ensuing Group J at 2-1. However, head coach Pedro Calles is now expected to miss him through the second half of the six-game schedule, amid a battle for a berth in the Quarterfinals, and in upcoming fixtures of Germany’s easyCredit BBL Regular Season.
The six-week recovery timeline affects the senior national team of Iceland as well, with the Reykjavik native projected to sit out a home-and-away series opposite Lithuania on February 27 and March 2 to resume action in Group D of the European Qualifiers of the FIBA World Cup 2027. Splits across the international window in November, from Iceland to Great Britain, Lithuania, and Italy, shaped a four-way tie at 1-1. The top three in the final standings after six games will advance to the next round.