All athletes’ careers must come to an end at some point.
It’s always tough to say goodbye to a sport a player loved, but they can’t play forever.
A 39-year-old and a former NBA champion with the Spurs in 2014 was among the latest to call it a career.
What former NBA player/champion retired?
Marco Belinelli announced on his social media page Monday that he’d be retiring from the game of basketball.
In his statement, he said, “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” (via HoopsHype).
Belinelli had a successful career as a role player, playing for 9 teams in his 13-year career.
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The team he played the longest for was the Spurs, playing four years there, and winning the title in 2014.
Before being drafted into the NBA in 2007, he played for a few seasons with two Italian basketball clubs.
He decided to leave the NBA after the 2019-20 season, returning to Italy to play for Virtus Bologna again.
Throughout his career, he also represented Italy at several EuroBasket tournaments and the FIBA World Cup.
In Belinelli’s NBA career, he averaged 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 860 total games played.
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