By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan confirmed Luis Scola’s addition via press release on Sunday evening. Fresh off his tremendous 2019 FIBA World Cup run, the 39-year-old Argentinian made his way back to EuroLeague and is set to play for the first time in Italy’s LBA Serie A.
Per Olimpia Milano: “Olimpia Milano signed Luis Scola for the remainder of the season. Luis Scola is 2.07 mt power forward, born on April 30, 1980 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and comes from the Chinese team of the Shangai Sharks and in the last two seasons he played in the same Chinese league. “We wanted Luis Scola – says the general manager of Olimpia, Christos Stavropoulos – because, taken for granted his value as a player, he has the characteristics that we want in the players chosen for our project”. “I am excited to have the chance to play in Milan at this stage in my career. It is even more special to have the opportunity to play for a coach like Ettore Messina. This will be fun,” Luis Scola said.
HIS CAREER – Scola started to play in Argentina in the Ferrocarril Oeste, then moved to Spain, to Vitoria where he remained until 2007 (he spent one season on loan in Gijon). He has won two national championships, three King’s Cups and two Super Cups. It was twice named in the All-EuroLeague first team and once in the second. With Baskonia, he played the EuroLeague final twice (2001 and 2007), and two more times they reached the Final Four. Overall, he played 144 EuroLeague games with 2054 points scored (14.3 on average) and 810 rebounds grabbed. In 2002, he was picked with the number 56 in the NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs, but moved to America only in 2007 where he played five years in Houston, then in Phoenix, Indiana, Toronto, Brooklyn. Combined, he appeared in 743 games with 505 starts, he also scored 8,882 points, averaging 12.0 points per game, and 6.7 rebounds. With the Argentine national team he won the 2004 Olympic gold medal, the Olympic bronze medal in 2008, the world championships silver medal in 2002 and 2019.
NOTES – At the last World Cuo in Beijing, Scola averaged 17.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. His most productive season in the NBA was in 2010/11 when he scored 18.3 points per game in Houston. The highest rebounding average goes back to the 2008/09 season with 8.8. In 2007/08 he was named in the All-Rookie first team in the NBA. He also played 48 playoff games.”