The Denver Nuggets might have the best player in basketball in Nikola Jokic, but they were led by a different international star not long ago.
Before the Jokic era brought the best stretch of basketball in Nuggets history, the team was one of the most consistent in the West, with Danilo Gallinari playing a critical part in Denver’s success.
Although Gallinari was drafted by the New York Knicks, he spent over six years in Denver, ending his NBA career best known as a Nugget. While Gallinari wasn’t on an NBA floor last season and isn’t sure if he’ll make it back to the league, he is coming off a championship in Puerto Rico and is looking to make one last run with the Italian national team.
In a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Gallinari revealed that this summer’s EuroBasket would be his final time playing with the national team. After a successful NBA career, highlighted by his nearly 20 points a night in Denver, Gallinari is hoping to add one last thing to his long list of accolades.
“All I need is a medal with the national team and then I can be happy. It’s also difficult to quantify what could have been and wasn’t: I started with the national team when I was 17 or 18, when the 2004 Olympic team was still there, and of all the possible summers since then, I’ve missed eight. That’s a lot. I wonder what could have happened if I’d played those eight too, but it’s better not to think about it. Anything can happen in any summer, including this one.”
Gallinari still isn’t sure what the future might hold beyond his upcoming EuroBasket run, but if this is the end, he will be remembered as one of the best players to put on a Nuggets jersey in recent memory.
