List of Italian NBA players

Last updated

Andrea Bargnani was selected by the Toronto Raptors as the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft. Andrea Bargnani.JPG
Andrea Bargnani was selected by the Toronto Raptors as the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men's professional basketball league in North America. This list comprises all Italian players who have played in the NBA since its foundation in 1946. Each player's entry includes the seasons he spent in the league, the teams he played for, the number of appearances he made (both in regular season and playoffs) and his draft information. The list also includes players who were born outside of Italy but hold Italian citizenship or have represented the Italian national team in FIBA-sanctioned competitions, as well as Italian-born players who acquired another nationality at some point. Players who were born in Italy to foreign parents and never held Italian citizenship are not included.

Contents

By the aforementioned criteria, 11 Italian players have played in the NBA. The first Italian-born player to feature in the league was Hank Biasatti, who appeared in six games for the Toronto Huskies during the 1946–47 season and subsequently was picked by the Boston Celtics in the 1947 draft; Biasatti, however, was a Canadian citizen by naturalization at the time of his debut, having moved to Canada with his parents as a child. [1] In the 1970 draft, Dino Meneghin was selected as an 11th round pick by the Atlanta Hawks, thus becoming the first Italian- and European-raised player to be drafted by an NBA team; nonetheless, Meneghin was never signed. [2] In 1989, Mike D'Antoni became the first player with NBA experience to represent Italy in international competitions, being selected to the Italian squad for the European Championship; an American citizen by birth, D'Antoni had been playing in the Italian League for 12 years and had been granted Italian citizenship due to his Italian ancestry. [3] On November 12, 1995, Stefano Rusconi became the first Italian-raised player to play in the NBA, as he made his debut for the Phoenix Suns. In the 2006 draft, Andrea Bargnani was selected by the Toronto Raptors as the first overall pick, being the first—and to date only—Italian and European player to be drafted first overall. [4]

Marco Belinelli is currently the all-time leader among Italians in both regular season and playoff games played, with 860 and 65 respectively. Belinelli was also the first Italian to both play in the NBA Finals and win an NBA Championship, having done so as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. [5] [6]

Key

Pos.GFC
Position GuardForwardCenter
*Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

Players

Note: Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2021–22 season.

PlayerNBA careerGames played NBA draft NotesRef.
NamePos.Team(s) playedYears [nb 1] RSPOYearPickTeam
Paolo Banchero*F Orlando Magic (2022–present) 2022–present72— 2022 1st Orlando Magic Italian-American [nb 2] [8]
Andrea Bargnani F/C 2006–2016 55011 2006 1st Toronto Raptors — [9]
Marco Belinelli G 2007–2020 86065 2007 18th Golden State Warriors — [10]
Hank Biasatti G Toronto Huskies 1946–1947 6— 1947 n/a Boston Celtics Italian-Canadian [nb 3] [11]
Mike D'Antoni G 1973–1976 1304 1973 20th Kansas City–Omaha Kings Italian-American [nb 4] [13]
Luigi Datome F 2013–2015 553 2009 Undrafted — [14]
Travis Diener G 2005–2010 1792 2005 38th Orlando Magic American-born Italian [nb 5] [16]
Vincenzo Esposito G Toronto Raptors 1995–1996 30— 1991 Undrafted — [17]
Simone Fontecchio*F
2 teams
 2022–present52— 2017 Undrafted — [18]
Danilo Gallinari*F 2008–present72848 2008 6th New York Knicks — [19]
Nico Mannion G Golden State Warriors 2020–2021 30— 2020 48th Golden State Warriors Italian-American [nb 6] [21]
Nicolò Melli F 2019–2021 1053 2013 Undrafted — [22]
Stefano Rusconi C/F Phoenix Suns 1995–1996 7— 1990 52nd Cleveland Cavaliers — [23]

Other draftees

The following players were drafted but either never played or have yet to play in the NBA.

PlayerPos.YearPickTeamNotesRef.
Augusto Binelli C 1986 40th Atlanta Hawks — [24]
Alessandro Gentile G 2014 53rd Minnesota Timberwolves [nb 7] — [26]
Dino Meneghin C 1970 182nd Atlanta Hawks — [27]
Riccardo Morandotti F 1987 136th Atlanta Hawks — [28]
Gabriele Procida F 2022 36th Detroit Pistons — [29]
Matteo Spagnolo G 2022 50th Minnesota Timberwolves — [30]

Notes

  1. ↑ Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.
  2. ↑ Banchero was born in the United States to an African-American mother (Rhonda Banchero) and an Italian American father, thus being able to acquire Italian dual citizenship through ancestry. [7]
  3. ↑ Biasatti was born in Italy and grew up in Canada, where he acquired Canadian citizenship through naturalization. [1]
  4. ↑ D'Antoni was born in the United States to Italian American parents and he acquired Italian dual citizenship through ancestry; he represented Italy internationally. [12]
  5. ↑ Diener was born in the United States and he acquired Italian dual citizenship through marriage; he represented Italy internationally. [15]
  6. ↑ Mannion was born in Italy to an American father (Pace Mannion) and an Italian mother, thus being an Italian-American dual citizen by birth; he represented Italy internationally. [20]
  7. ↑ Draft rights traded to the Houston Rockets on draft night. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olimpia Milano</span> Professional basketball team

Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes referred as "Scarpette Rosse" because team officials imported red Converse All-Star shoes for players from the United States. The tag line stuck, and the nickname is still used by many fans today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dino Meneghin</span> Italian basketball player

Dino Meneghin is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered to be the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all-time greats. A 2.06 m tall center, Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto. On 20 November 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played in his first game in the Italian League, with Ignis Varese. He played the last game of his career at the age of 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marko Jarić</span> Serbian basketball player (born 1978)

Marko Jarić is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.01 m, he mainly played the point guard position. He also represented the senior FR Yugoslavian national basketball team internationally. Jarić was an All-EuroLeague First Team member in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike D'Antoni</span> Italian-American basketball coach and former player

Michael Andrew D'Antoni is an Italian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italy men's national basketball team</span> Mens national basketball team representing Italy

The Italy men's national basketball team represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirsad Türkcan</span> Turkish basketball player

Mirsad Türkcan is a Turkish former professional basketball player of Bosniak origin. Standing at a height of 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), he played at the power forward position. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team member, he is also the fifth best rebounder in the EuroLeague, since the year 2000, with 1,287 total rebounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergio Rodríguez</span> Spanish basketball player

Sergio Rodríguez Gómez is a Spanish professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Standing at 1.91 m, he plays at the point guard position. Rodriguez, nicknamed "El Chacho", won the EuroLeague title in 2015, and was an All-EuroLeague First Team selection, as well as the EuroLeague MVP the year before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis Diener</span> American-Italian basketball player

Travis Lyle Diener is an American-Italian former professional basketball player who last played for Vanoli Cremona in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He also holds Italian citizenship, and has played for the Italian national team at EuroBasket 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Bargnani</span> Italian basketball player (born 1985)

Andrea Bargnani is an Italian former professional basketball player. The 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) power forward-center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors. He spent 10 seasons in the NBA, including with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, before ending his career with a stint in Spain during the 2016–17 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 NBA draft</span> Basketball player selection

The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Philadelphia 76ers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Prior to the draft, the Baltimore Bullets relocated to Landover, Maryland, and became the Capital Bullets. The Philadelphia 76ers were awarded an extra first-round draft pick as compensation when the Seattle SuperSonics signed John Brisker. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. Before the draft, 11 college underclassmen were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier. The draft consisted of 20 rounds comprising the selection of 211 players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Belinelli</span> Italian basketball player (born 1986)

Marco Stefano Belinelli is an Italian professional basketball player and the team captain for Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was selected 18th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. In 2014, he won the NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs, becoming the first Italian player to do so. He won the Three-Point Contest during the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend. He played in the 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 editions of the FIBA EuroBasket and the 2006 and 2019 editions of the FIBA World Championship with the Italian national basketball team.

Henry Arcado Biasatti was an Italian-Canadian National Basketball Association player and a Major League Baseball first baseman. He is the only Canadian to play at the top professional level in both sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danilo Gallinari</span> Italian basketball player (born 1988)

Danilo Gallinari is an Italian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After spending his first four years as a professional in his native Italy, Gallinari was drafted sixth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He played with the Knicks for two and a half seasons before being traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2011. He has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Atlanta Hawks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefano Mancinelli</span> Italian basketball player

Stefano Mancinelli is an Italian professional basketball player for Fortitudo Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A. He also represented the Italian national basketball team. Standing at 2.03 m, he plays at the small forward and power forward positions.

The 1987 McDonald's Open took place at MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, United States. This was the first edition of the McDonald's Championship and was a round-robin competition between 3 teams: Milwaukee Bucks, Tracer Milano and the USSR. The decider was played between Milwaukee Bucks and the Soviet Union on 25 October 1987 and had the feel of an Olympic Final with highlights of past national team encounters between USA and the USSR in other sports showed on the court's video screen.

The 1998–99 NBA season was the Nuggets' 23rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 32nd season as a franchise. On March 23, 1998, the owners of all 29 NBA teams voted 27–2 to reopen the league's collective bargaining agreement, seeking changes to the league's salary cap system, and a ceiling on individual player salaries. The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) opposed to the owners' plan, and wanted raises for players who earned the league's minimum salary. After both sides failed to reach an agreement, the owners called for a lockout, which began on July 1, 1998, putting a hold on all team trades, free agent signings and training camp workouts, and cancelling many NBA regular season and preseason games. Due to the lockout, the NBA All-Star Game, which was scheduled to be played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1999, was also cancelled. However, on January 6, 1999, NBA commissioner David Stern, and NBPA director Billy Hunter finally reached an agreement to end the lockout. The deal was approved by both the players and owners, and was signed on January 20, ending the lockout after 204 days. The regular season began on February 5, and was cut short to just 50 games instead of the regular 82-game schedule.

Christopher Guerrero Banchero is an American professional basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted fifth overall by Alaska in the 2014 PBA draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nico Mannion</span> Professional basketball player

Niccolò "Nico" Mannion is an Italian-American professional basketball for Pallacanestro Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats. He attended Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top point guards in the 2019 class. Although he mainly grew up in the United States, Mannion represents his birth country of Italy in international competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paolo Banchero</span> American basketball player (born 2002)

Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. Banchero was named the Rookie of the Year of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2022. Following his freshman season, he declared for the 2022 NBA draft, where he was selected with the first overall pick by the Orlando Magic. Banchero was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hank Biasatti". Windsor Public Library. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  2. ↑ Stankovic, Vladimir (December 17, 2011). "Dino Meneghin, the eternal champion". euroleague.net. Euroleague . Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ Stankovic, Vladimir (November 3, 2012). "Mike D'Antoni, the NBA's first "European" head coach". euroleague.net. Euroleague . Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Raptors take Bargnani with No. 1 pick". espn.go.com. ESPN Inc. June 29, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Marco Belinelli: the first italian player in NBA Finals". italiangoodnews.com. June 4, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ McCafferty, Hugo (June 18, 2014). "Italian Marco Belinelli makes NBA history". swide.com. Swide. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Who is Paolo Banchero? Italian-American picked first by Orlando Magic in 2022 NBA Draft 2022 - Top things to know". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee . Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Paolo Banchero". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Andrea Bargnani". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Marco Belinelli". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Hank Biasatti". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Mike D'Antoni". nba.com. National Basketball Association. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Mike D'Antoni". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Luigi Datome". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Travis Diener è italiano, la Nazionale di basket sogna" [Travis Diener is Italian, the national basketball team is dreaming]. melty.it (in Italian). meltygroup. May 29, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Travis Diener". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Vincenzo Esposito". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Simone Fontecchio". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Danilo Gallinari". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Nico Mannion". nba.com. National Basketball Association . Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Nico Mannion". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Nicolò Melli". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Stefano Rusconi". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  24. ↑ "1986 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Rockets get 53rd pick Gentile from T-Wolves". csnhouston.com. Comcast. June 26, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Alessandro Gentile". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  27. ↑ "1970 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  28. ↑ "1987 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  29. ↑ "2022 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  30. ↑ "2022 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.