Former NBA champion and San Antonio Spurs guard Marco Belinelli recently announced his retirement from basketball, marking the end of a very fruitful professional career at the top level. At 39 years old, the Italian guard capped off a career filled with team and individual success, and as he left the game, he shared a touching parting message on social media:
“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.”
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The Italian guard began his career as a basketball player with Virtus Bologna in the Lega Serie A in 2002. After one season, he joined cross-town rivals Fortitudo Bologna for 2003-04. He would eventually win his first league title with them in 2005, even winning the Italian Super Cup MVP award.
At 21 years old, Belinelli entered his name for the 2007 NBA Draft, where he was eventually selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 18th-overall pick. Unfortunately, apart from early highlights during the 2007 Summer League, he couldn’t establish himself as a rotation player with the team during his rookie season.
Although he became a more significant role player during his sophomore year, averaging 8.9 points on 39.7% shooting from three-point range in 21.0 minutes played per game, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2009.
From 2009-2012, Belinelli bounced around the league, struggling to cement his position for longer than two seasons. While he averaged a career-best 11.8 points per game as a starter during the 2011-12 season with the New Orleans Hornets, he found himself on the trade block in the 2012 offseason.
It was only in 2013 that the guard joined the San Antonio Spurs and immediately became a key role player for the team.
Although the Spurs came up short that year, they ultimately achieved success in the following season. After beating the Miami Heat in 2014, the Spurs secured their fifth title, and Belinelli earned his first and only NBA championship, becoming the first Italian player to win it.
While being a core member of the squad that made the title charge that season, he also emerged as a 6MOY candidate, placing 11th in the race. He averaged 11.4 points on 48.5% shooting from the field and 43.0% shooting from three-point range that season.
Even after tasting title success, the guard remained a journeyman, moving around different teams in the league. After stints with the Kings, the Hawks, and the 76ers, and a brief reunion with the Hornets, he returned to the Spurs to play out the last years of his NBA career.
He retired from the league with a career average of 9.7 points and 2.1 rebounds, while shooting 42.4% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range.
After leaving the NBA as an unsigned free agent, Belinelli returned to the Lega Serie A to play for his boyhood team, Virtus Bologna, in November 2020. In the five years leading up to retirement, he won the league title twice, the Super Cup three times, and was even named the Serie A MVP in 2024.
Belinelli ended his career in storybook fashion, lifting a championship in his final season, a fitting conclusion for one of Italy’s finest basketball exports.
