Pyrinto Tampere

Damon Williams arrived in Tampere in 1999 and stayed until 2016, long enough to win three championships in a Pyrintö shirt and be named Finals MVP each time. His number, 32, has not been issued since.

That line began in 1941, when the sport was added to the general sports club Tampereen Pyrintö, founded decades earlier in 1896, at the urging of its chairman, Into Harjun. The basketball side's own path through the top division was not a straight one: relegated from the SM-sarja in 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1989, promoted back in 1978 and again in 1996. Since the 2005–2006 season the club has stayed in the Korisliiga without a further drop.

In the Suomen Cup, Pyrintö has won twice, in 1969 and 2013, and been beaten in five finals since.

The old rivalry belonged to Tampereen Pallo-Toverit, though TPT now plays well below Pyrintö's level. Games against Helsinki Seagulls carry the weight now, without a name of their own attached — locally it is still just the Tampere derby.

Pyrintö plays in red and white at Pyynikin Palloiluhalli, a hall that holds around 1,400.