By Antonis Stroggylakis/ AStroggylakis@eurohoops.net
A world of limitless possibilities opens up for Italian basketball great Gigi Datome as he’s hanging his shoes after the completion of the 2023 World Cup. There’s just one future option that he has already crossed out and is not considering.
“This is the only thing that I’m pretty sure that I won’t do,” Datome said after Italy’s preparation win over Greece (10/8), referring to possibly becoming a coach like several of his peers once they decide their playing days are over. “I won’t do any coaching because I know it’s very tough. I had great coaches and I know how difficult it is. I’ll try to learn something else. Never say never of course, but I don’t feel I’ll be a coach.”
Eurohoops just had to half-jokingly ask Datome if the reason coaching is off the books for him is that viral NSFW moment with Zeljko Obradovic during a Fenerbahce timeout. “No. Me and Zeljko? We love each other. I love Zeljko forever and ever. It’s exactly because I had great coaches like him and Ettore Messina that I know that it’s not easy to be a coach. I feel lucky I had great coaches like Zeljko.”
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Starting a band or embarking on a musical career with his guitar (he can definitely play some tunes) doesn’t seem to be a scenario either. “For fun? Sure. As a job? Unfortunately, I’m not so good. Now it’s the moment to start from zero again. To learn. Because I was a good basketball player but I need and want to be good at what I do next. To be good, you need to be humble, to start from zero and to learn. That’s how I’m going to approach my next year.”
The game against Greece marked Datome’s last visit to the grand OAKA arena as a player. A place that instantly brings him flashbacks of the start of Fenerbahce‘s sweep over Panathinaikos in the 2017 EuroLeague playoffs before the Turkish side won its first-ever championship title.
It has been like that overall for Datome this summer since he announced that he’s retiring from basketball at 35 years of age and following his third season with Olimpia Milano. A sort of farewell tour to places he created memories in, a prelude to his last dance and final performance with Italy on the World Cup stage of the Philippines.
“It’s a weird feeling,” Datome said. “I try to enjoy every moment. I know that everything that’s happening is ‘last.’ Last game here, last practice there, last time in OAKA tonight for example and so on. I had a beautiful career, I’m very happy about it. But now I’m enjoying every moment because now everything is even more special.”
Datome amassed an enviable collection of club and individual accolades since he began playing professional basketball in 2003. He won several league titles in both Italy and Turkey while claiming multiple MVP trophies in knockout Final games or series, a firm showcase of his ability to decide and define big-time clashes and crucial moments.
There’s one crowning achievement he distinguishes among the rest.
“All the moments are important,” Datome said. “Also, the moments when I was struggling because these moments gave me a lot of character. But if I had to choose one picture for sure that would be winning the 2017 EuroLeague championship with Fenerbahce. I think it was the peak of my career.”
For a second straight year, Italy is coached by Gianmarco Pozzecco. An Olympic silver medalist with the “Azzurri” in 2004 as a player, Pozzecco is a person who carries an unapologetic and inspiring fiery passion as a coach similar to the one that drove him when he balled.
In both the 2022 EuroBasket and during the preparation period ahead of the 2023 World Cup, the players of the Italian national team have been visibly emboldened by Pozzecco’s coaching style and spirit.
“For sure he [Pozzecco] gives us a lot of freedom, responsibility and confidence,” Datome said. “But it’s also on us to earn this because we are a group of good guys that we care a lot about the national team and we care a lot about each other. We live together day by day very good. For what Pozzecco gives us we need to earn it every day. I think the group is doing what we want to do. These two games we could lose, or win but I think we are building identity and that’s the most important thing.”
Before the tipoff against Greece, Datome received quite the ovation by the Greek crowd in OAKA when he was recognized for his career by the Greek Basketball Federation. He admitted to being pleasantly surprised that fans welcomed him so warmly.
“I want to thank say thank you to the Greek fans and the Greek Federation and the organization that gave me this recognition,” Datome mentioned. “Coming from a country like Greece that has incredible knowledge and history in basketball in a historical arena. I was really moved and I didn’t expect this. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”