Esko Karhunen

Esko Ensio ”Sir Emal” Karhunen (4 January 1928 – 8 March 2016) was a Finnish basketball player and contributor.

The 183 cm Karhunen spent his whole SM-sarja career at Pantterit basketball club, and its predecessors, in Helsinki, and was in a record 13 Finnish championship-winning teams. He was also capped eight times for the Finland men's national team and represented his country at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

After his career as a player, Karhunen was a basketball contributor  in Pantterit. He organized a practice tournament which was played between 1971–2000 and brought the Harlem Globetrotters to Finland.

Karhunen was inducted into the Finnish Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. Karhunen died on 8 March 2016 in Helsinki at 88 years of age.