By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Former NBA champion Marco Belinelli announced his retirement from basketball at 39 with a message on social media. To this day, he’s the only Italian player with an NBA ring.
Here’s what Belinelli wrote:
I gave it my heart.
Every piece of me.
Every single day.
Basketball gave me everything… and I gave it everything I had.
Saying goodbye isn’t easy.
But it’s time.
I carry with me every emotion, every sacrifice, every cheer.
Thank you to those who always believed.
To the next generation—I leave a dream.
Make it count.
A 14-year NBA veteran and champion in 2014 with the San Antonio Spurs, Belinelli spent the last five seasons of his career with hometown club Virtus Bologna. In 2022, he helped the team win the EuroCup title to gain a much expected return to the EuroLeague.
Throughout his NBA career, Belinelli registered 925 appearances, averaging 9.7 points in regular season games and 8.5 points in the playoffs. In 2014, he won the NBA All-Star Game 3-point contest, a few months before he was crowned NBA champion.
Belinelli has been a member of the senior Italian team since the 2006 World Championship, appearing in multiple summer tournaments.