Tolga Tekinalp

Tolga Tekinalp — Biography

Born on 28 December 1974 in Sinop, Tolga Tekinalp is a 2.04-metre-tall former Turkish basketball player. He began his career in the Efes Pilsen youth system before moving to TED Kolejliler at 17 to gain experience, and in 1994 joined the newly formed Ülkerspor. Despite a deep roster, he stood out as a productive sixth man and rose through the ranks to the Turkish national team, representing Turkey at EuroBasket 1997. He transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1999 and spent two seasons with the club.

In November 2001, Tekinalp moved to the Swedish league, where he thrived in an unfamiliar basketball culture, averaging 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. After a trial with the French club Dijon in 2002, he joined Beşiktaş for the 2003-2004 season and, as one of the squad's most experienced players, was named team captain in 2005-2006. He moved to Galatasaray Cafe Crown in the summer of 2006 and finished out his playing career at İstanbul Technical University's basketball team from the summer of 2008.

After retiring as a player, Tekinalp moved into club management, serving as general manager of Çağdaş Bodrum Spor's basketball team during the 2022-2023 season before leaving the post in October 2023.