Over the past week, 14-year NBA veteran Danilo Gallinari has been with Italy’s men’s national team as they prepare for EuroBasket 2025. Even with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo removing himself from the roster due to injury concerns, the Blues have gone 4-0 in these friendly matches, making them one of five undefeated teams.
In Italy’s preparation games, Gallinari has been an observer rather than a participant. This might be attributed to the fact he just won BSN Finals MVP after scoring 32 points in a title-sealing Game 5 victory. It was the first award the 37-year-old has received since being named the Italian League MVP and EuroLeague Rising Star in 2008. It was the first championship that he’s won at any level.
However, that may not be the case for long.
Italy’s Danilo Gallinari Talks National Team Retirement, NBA Return
Invigorated by the knowledge that this will be his “last summer with the (Italian) National Team,” the Sant’Angelo Lodigiano native is “extra” motivated.
“Yes, it will be my last summer with the National Team,” he tells Giuseppe Nigro of La Gazzetta dello Sport. Knowing it gives an extra charge. These are sensations that a club doesn’t give you.”
With that in mind, Gallinari relays that: “A medal with the national team is missing and then I can be happy. It is also difficult to quantify what could have been and was not: I started in blue when I was 17-18 years old… and of all possible summers since then I have skipped eight… I wonder if I had also played those eight what could have happened; better not to think about it. Anything can happen every summer, even this one”.
When the European Championship officially begins on Aug. 27, Gallinari may not average 19+ points per game like he did with the Vaqueros. Given the way Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio has been playing for Italy, he may not have to. Nonetheless, having a player of his caliber on the roster undoubtedly gives them a better chance of winning a medal.
An oro medal.
Call It A Comeback?
Last August, Gallinari revealed his desire to return to the NBA after finishing the 2023-24 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. At 35 years old, he was certainly out of his prime. The best stretch of his career saw him averaging 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game from 2009-10 to 2019-20. In that time, he played for the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, in his time with the Bucks, he had a disastrously pochino role. After 17 regular season appearances, he had averaged 2.8 points in 9.1 minutes per game. It was a far cry from even his in-season pit stops with the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons. For context, Gallinari averaged 7.0 points in 14.8 minutes per game with the Wizards (26 games). With the Pistons, he averaged 8.7 points in 15.0 minutes per game (6 games).
Consequently, though “(his) goal was to do a last year… Months passed and nothing came out…”
“I realized that nothing would happen anymore,” he says of his desire to be signed for the 2024-25 NBA season.
With that being said, Gallinari doesn’t sound ready to give up on an NBA return just yet. Asked if this summer was his last playing professionally, the former sixth overall pick says: “I don’t know.”
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