By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After tearing his left ACL playing for the Italian national team before the 2022/23 season and not playing a game for the Boston Celtics, Danilo Gallinari joined the Washington Wizards last summer and started the season averaging 8.7 points in 14.4 minutes per match.
Entering his 14th NBA season, the 35-year-old Italian is showing that the injury is in the past and that he is ready to compete at the top level once again.
“As long as my legs are underneath me, I want to play. When you love basketball so much, in your head, you want to play until you’re 70, but of course, your legs are not going to be there. As long as my legs are there, my mind is always going to be ready to go and be competitive. I just need my legs, and I’ll be good,” Gallinari said to HoopsHype.
Even though he got injured while representing his country in FIBA competition, Gallinari remains determined to don the jersey of his national team and participate in the upcoming Olympics for Italy.
“Yes, of course. I have never said no to the national team, and I’ll never say no. I’m always available in any role they need me to be on the court.”
He’s satisfied with how Italy performed at the 2023 FIBA World Cup with a bunch of young players on the roster, and that excites him for the future of Italian basketball.
“I think they did great. Unfortunately, they faced Team USA in the quarter-finals, especially after the USA lost the game against Lithuania. It wasn’t the perfect situation to play against them, but I think they did a great job as one of the first eight teams in the world. Italy is on the map. It’s great,” Gallinari concluded.