After excelling in the Norwegian BLNO – the country’s first division – Ludvik Bergseng packed his bags and moved to Spain, where he’ll continue his development with BAXI Manresa. A 10 point-per-game scorer in Norway, he finished this summer’s U18 European Championships – Division B with 13.3 points and 9.9 rebounds, making 6’11 Bergseng one of the most intriguing names in European basketball. We spoke to him about his career up until this point and what he hopes to achieve.

Born in KolsÃ¥s, in the municipality of Bærum, about 15 minutes away from the capital city of Oslo, Ludvik Bergseng has spent all his life in his hometown. It was there, when he was 7 years old, that his father started a basketball practice group for kids in his class since there weren’t many such options for kids below 10. Despite trying taekwondo and football, Ludvik kept at it with basketball and that is something he envisions doing as a career. Both of his parents were basketball players, although Niels played longer, becoming a four-time Norwegian national champion. His job was to manage different school gyms and facilities in the public sector, which allowed Ludvik to have places to practice in his free time, something he believes helped him in his development: “This has helped me not only to spend a lot of time in gyms when my father was working, but also to have access to these gyms so I could always be able to get up shots”.

Niels was Ludvik’s coach from the start and although he tried to not be too rigid with him, sometimes that couldn’t be accomplished. “Ludvik was never pushed, but when his father is the coach of the team it is hard to say no to practice. Once, when he was 12 years old, he was late getting ready to leave for practice. I left because I would not be late for practice (I had set a goal for myself to always be in the gym at least 15 minutes before every practice). He got really sad and persuaded his mother to drive him so he could make the practice” Niels tells me. But much like his father, Ludvik always sets goals for himself. Niels continues by saying that “Ludvik has always had good work ethics, is honest with himself, and has self awareness of where he is both in his development as a player and in life in general. He has a good memory and is always analyzing what he did at practice and in games”, something Ludvik corroborates: “As a player I would describe myself as eager to learn, but also eager to teach others, which I believe is the best way to learn. I always try to learn from better players, watch them, study them since they know more than me and they are at a level I want to be at, all I can do is listen and be coachable”.

For Ludvik, his development comes from constant work, getting a bit better each day. “Imagine how much better you become over decades or a lifetime. Also, my basketball goal is to become the best basketball player I can be, which is something I must strive for every day” he says, while he believes he can help the sport grow in Norway: “(…) for that to happen I need to become someone kids can look up to and idolize, since we do not have a lot of that especially in the higher levels of basketball”.

From an early age it was instilled in Ludvik’s mind that he shouldn’t be or shouldn’t put himself in a box. Despite his size, he had to learn how to play different positions and fill out many roles. “My father (and coach) had a basketball philosophy that everybody should learn every position, which helped me since I was quite tall but learned to handle the ball and even play point guard”. And so, when he is studying the game and trying to emulate other players’ skills, he doesn’t look for just one type of player. “I really like watching Kevin Durant, how he effortlessly gets to his spots and can score at any moment. But I try to learn from everyone, if it is how Chris Paul orients a screen or how Chet Holmgren positions himself to get blocks, I try to learn the best parts from every player, not just from one”. That’s something Morten Myrvang, his junior team coach from last season and Norway’s U18 assistant coach, can atest to: “Us coaches that have been working with him at national, senior and junior level, we have this image of him puzzling his game together piece by piece. Not really finishing a part of the puzzle but spreading it out”, adding that “As a player/person he is the most dedicated and serious teenager I have ever been around. Putting real time in the gym physically and working on his craft. Always the first guy in the gym and the last one out”.

It may sound like a cliché, but Ludvik’s commitment to his craft cannot be overstated. “(He is) super serious with his priorities and is only focused on being the best he can be. Mentally he has sometimes struggled with getting few touches and gotten a bit emotional when not performing to his liking. However, he is the most coachable guy we’ve been around and is really all about business when becoming a great basketball player”, says Morten, to which Niels adds “Although he hates to lose, he never takes it out on his teammates, but rather on himself for not having done more himself”. This connection between Ludvik and both his father Niels and his coach Morten is a big part of his evolution, with both helping him get into basketball and being a huge supporting system. He also mentions Matthias Eckhoff, Bærum and the Norwegian national coach. “With him I saw my biggest growth in skills since he always knew where I should improve”, Ludvik tells me.

Matthias was responsible for Ludvik Bergseng’s debut in the Norwegian national team in the 25th of February of this year, in the win over Luxembourg, when he was only 17 years old. At 15, Ludvik was called for his first game with Bærum. Despite the nervousness, he finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, fogetting the nerves that could’ve been overwhelming for such a young kid, although he jokes that “after the game I had to do an interview on live television, and I was very nervous during that”. Bærum has come far since that day, finishing the last two seasons in 6th place, but reaching the semi-finals of the playoffs in 2022/23 and the finals last season, where Ludvik averaged 13.3 points on 58.3% from three, including a 26-point game to try to avoid elimination in game 3. One of the reasons for the loss was Terrell Brown, who he doesn’t hesitate to call the most difficult player he has ever played against. “Whatever we threw against him, he always had an answer for it. Keeping him under thirty points was almost impossible since he was such a complete offensive player”.

Now in Spain, Ludvik’s life revolves around practice with Manresa, school and recovery, while he also tries to maintain a relationship with his friends in Norway. He is also an avid reader and series/movies watcher and has begun to show some interest in cooking now that he lives abroad. On the basketball court, he’s looking to work on his shot: “(…) even though I consider myself as a good shooter, it is a skill I want to master and make it a deadly weapon in my arsenal. But the thing I need to work on the most is my agility when defending. To be the most versatile I can be, I need to be able to guard most positions, and when I defend faster and shiftier players, I am at a big disadvantage”.

For Ludvik, the key right now is “using this season to develop and get better”, in order to find a spot in Manresa’s first team rotation. He believes he can play at a high level in Europe or even in the NBA, something his father agrees with. That’s where Ludvik Bergseng is trying to get, “trying to do the right thing and be an honest hardworking person, since I know in life and especially basketball, there are no shortcuts”.