Harald Frey grew up in Oslo. He had the best view of Norway’s cult place of winter sports – the Holmen¬kollen – and with Sturla Holm Laegreid a schoolmate who has now reached the top of the biathlon world. However, he was not attracted to cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping or ice hockey. “I’ve tried a few things, but not competitively. I definitely prefer the alpine disciplines of skiing to cross-country skiing. But I haven’t skied since I went to college in the US,” says the 24-year-old. He became a basketball player – almost an exotic sport in the most successful winter sports country of the past Olympic Games.
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In the Frey family, however, basketball has always played the leading sporting role. Both parents were – and still are – connected to this ball sport. They were also the ones who started a basketball group with Harald and his friends in the third grade. In addition, her son continued to play football until he was 14, before he fully focused on the orange ball and hoops. At the age of 15, Harald Frey made his first division debut in Norway. “It’s not comparable to the Bundesliga, but it was a great experience to play with grown men and learn from them. Even if I didn’t get a lot of playing time at first.” There are few true professionals in the Norwegian Premier League. There are a maximum of four – mostly US players – per team. Everyone else has a job on the side.
The 24-year-old is one of the best players in the national team, which is now taking part in international competitions again after a break (Frey: “There were financial problems”). He recently proved that in the pre-qualifiers for Euro 2025 against Denmark and Kosovo, scoring 23 and 38 points respectively. He calls it “an exciting project” because he has known many of his current Norwegian team-mates since they were young.
In the summer, when the basketball leagues pause, Frey is drawn to his homeland. He then spends a lot of time with his parents and his 22-year-old sister Anniken, who also plays basketball and has meanwhile switched to the Californian college “Cal State Fullerton” in Los Angeles. “I have a lot of contact with my family. Since I’ve been back in Europe, there’s a better chance of meeting each other.” His parents were in Spain at the beginning of the year before their son moved to southern Lower Saxony from the second division club Oviedo. “I think they will definitely come to Göttingen once or twice to watch games and see how I live here,” the basketball player expects soon to see his travel-loving parents, who travel a lot with him and his sister were and to which he also traces his own curiosity about foreign countries. “Otherwise I might not have gone to the USA, to Spain or now to Germany.”
When his parents come to Göttingen, his mother will surely prepare the dish that he misses the most. He loves Mexican cuisine and Hege Frey’s enchiladas. “I’m not the greatest cook, so I think the club’s agreement that we can have lunch here is a good thing,” the Norwegian alludes to the food delivery from the University Medical Center in Göttingen. He is also in the process of getting to know the city’s restaurants. He now has a little more time for that.
In the first few weeks he had to get used to the schedule, and there were also corona precautions. This time was a bit hectic. “It’s calmed down a bit after the international break, I’ll go out a bit more and try to find a few good coffee shops.” Harald Frey likes Göttingen, the architecture in the city, the pedestrian zone without cars – and everything even when the sun is shining a little more.
Getting used to a new country, a new city was initially very exciting. But his team made it easy for him to get used to everything and to feel welcome. He also received a lot of help from the coaching staff and everyone else at the club. It’s easy to come to work every day. Compared to the Spanish league, he describes the Bundesliga as “definitely another step forward”, here the game is more physical. In Spain, however, he was well prepared for it.
He is most happy about the fans in the hall. In Spain he also had to play in front of empty stands for a while. The 500 fans who were in the hall for his first BBL game against Ratiopharm Ulm felt like 2000 spectators to him. “Fans motivate and bring even more energy,” he is certain.
