Gigi Datome, giant steps

Sassari, summer 2012. The Italian national basketball team faces Turkey, reigning world vice champion, in a qualifying match for the upcoming European Championships. There are a few seconds left on the clock until the end of the first half: Gigi Datome receives the ball outside the three-point arc, sees the space for penetration and throws himself into it, attacking the rim with an imperious third half, Michael Jordan style. He seems to be walking on air, with his right arm stretched upwards and the ball glued to his hand. «A perfect athletic gesture, at the time you don't even understand how you did it. For me it was the turning point basket». Who shot that match, animating the Italian comeback, and launched his career. A journey that began a few kilometers from there, in his beloved Olbia, on the parquet of the building named after his uncle, and then continued between Siena, Scafati, Romethe jump to the NBA wearing the jerseys of Detroit and Bostonthe triumphs in Istanbul with the Fenerbahce and the last three years toOlimpia Milan, with two Scudetti and many joys. Including paternity.

Why, among the hundreds of baskets you have made, do you choose the one from 2012?
«I feel it like a turning point, something clicked in my head. It was the slam dunk of awareness: the following season I became captain of the national team and had a splendid championship in Rome. Which paved the way for me to adventure in the United States.”

As a travel enthusiast, what postcard do you bring with you from America?
«My cousin and a good friend of mine driving a camper on Rodeo Drive, with the Four Moors flag on display. They toured California to watch my matches: a moment shared with important people goes beyond the results on the pitch, it's real life.”

An image from Istanbul instead?
«The first time I crossed the Bosphorus by boat, at sunset: I had an epiphany observing the silhouette of the city, with the minarets and the muezzin singing in the background. The people welcomed me and gave me a lot of affection: they were five wonderful years, not just for the victories. I even learned to speak a little Turkish.”

Then, precisely, the arrival in Milan. Do you have a particular memory of the patron Giorgio Armani?
«The first meeting, shortly before signing the contract: he was happy to have me on board, I was immediately struck by his 360-degree aura of elegance. An elegance that he also wants to see transposed into sport: when we won the Italian Cup in 2021, he organized a lunch and complimented us. Not only for the success, but also for the ways in which we achieved it, i.e. by respecting some key values.”

Values ​​that for an athlete are a sort of mantra.
«A certain type of sports education represents a virtuous approach to life, it teaches you things that remain with you forever: respect for the rules, for the opponent and for the referee, setting goals, the spirit of sacrifice, giving example and accept defeat. To me, personally, he taught above all that time is a gentleman. Nowadays, in all fields, we tend to make a judgment immediately: reflection, however, needs its space, a wrong shot cannot be enough to issue a verdict.”

There is a historic phrase by Jordan in which he admits that he “missed over nine thousand shots and lost almost three hundred games”, but thanks to his failures he won everything. What's his bad shot?
«I believe that failure exists if you don't use it as an opportunity to grow, if you look for alibis, if you blame others without taking responsibility. There was a moment, at the beginning of my career, when I didn't feel up to the level I aspired to, I still needed to work: it was a decisive driving force.”

A growth that also characterized his experience in the NBA
«It was a test, I wanted to see if I deserved that stage. In Boston I think I proved it, first and foremost to myself. Of course, it was a complex period, but in the end I came out of it improved: which is one of the great objectives of sport, it's not just about winning that counts.”

If the adult Gigi Datome met the boy Gigi Datome, what advice would you give him?
«To enjoy everything right away, even the things that may seem bad. I don't have any major regrets, I made some mistakes along the way, like anyone, but always with genuineness: twenty years of my career have flown by and I've enjoyed them, but not always as I would have liked.”

Speaking of new generations, he recently supported the Books For Life project.
«It's an idea from the Federation, which I really agree with: distributing my comic to Minibasketball clubs, as a gift for members The Giant of the pitch, which goes well with the values ​​of sport. We also invited the companies to set up a book crossing corner, where children can exchange books. It's important to teach the rudiments of basketball, but it's also nice to arouse curiosity about something else.”

Books are his great passion. Which one would you take to a desert island?
«The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, which expresses all the power of literature. I am very fond of as well Harry Potter, which made me understand how fascinating reading could be: books are vitamins, which made me mature with a different open-mindedness.”

Is there a character you were particularly fond of or saw yourself in?
«Christopher McCandless, as told by Jon Krakauer in Into the wild, from which the film was then based. Or Edmond Dantès himself, who becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. Stories of choices and changes: you find yourself in certain aspects, or you reflect on points of view different from yours. I like books that stimulate questions, not those that claim to give answers.”

Do you have an answer on what you will do in the future, away from the fields?
«For now I enjoy small routines that I wasn't allowed to do before, like taking my daughter Gaia (2) to the pool and doing jumps together in the shallow water, like breaststrokes. My priority is to spend as much time as possible with her and with Chiara, my partner. Then I took this season to understand what I like to do, which gratifies me and gives me balance. I dream of leaving something beautiful, perhaps spreading the very values ​​of sport that shaped me. Also taking them outside the sporting universe, because if everyone followed them it would certainly be a better world.”

Will there still be the iconic beard in his new life?
“Absolutely yes. In Barcelona I met the actor Darko Perić, who plays Helsinki ne The Paper House, great basketball fan. He had to cut it, I think for work, and she advised me never to do it (laughs, ed.). She was born for fun about ten years ago, now she is part of me: I realize that without it I would perhaps feel better, I would look younger, but it is better to avoid the trauma of seeing the shape of my face again.”

How did you experience saying goodbye to basketball, to such an important piece of yourself?
«I was enormously lucky: I chose when to close, I wasn't forced by injuries or other problems. In my last match with Olimpia, at the Forum in front of our fans, we won the third star Scudetto and I was awarded best player of the finals. Better than a movie. And that day only my family knew my choice. We lived the moment in a private way.”

What if I asked you to choose one unforgettable moment from your entire trip?
«The last match with the national team, in September. I had already announced that I would retire: I experienced a crazy World Cup in terms of sensations, receiving an avalanche of affection. Then there was that collective embrace, the applause and the group photo: you play your whole life to win as much as possible, but in the end what remains inside you are the human relationships.”