(Of Francesco Rivano). Our story begins in a field. Not in a basketball court, but in a field to cultivate. The farmer is plowing the land under the scorching sun and the hard work, which allows him to earn a living and feed his family, is compounded by misfortune; oh yes, bad luck, which we will talk about later. The blade of his plow hits a stone and breaks. Desperate, annoyed, to be honest, angry, the farmer starts digging, he wants to take that stone, at the risk of breaking his back and he wants to throw it away from his land. And he digs. But what he finds leaves him speechless and astonished. A few kilometers away there is the sea, the most familiar natural element for one of the first emerged lands of the Mediterranean, the natural element that surrounds a land unique in its conformation and in the somatic and character traits of those who live there. A land made up of men who at first glance may seem stubborn, touchy and grumpy, a land in reality in which the main values are generosity, pride and love for the Great Mother and for the traditions handed down from generation to generation since the dawn of time.
Gigi was born in Veneto, in Montebelluna in November 1987, but grew up in Olbia. His father Sergio is a great basketball fan and in the city of Gallura he takes over the local team, the Holy Cross of Olbia, immediately directing the sporting choices of his sons Luigi and Tullio. Luigi showed off right from the start and already attracted the attention of the big clubs on the peninsula during his youth years. Bologna, Treviso and Siena step forward and it is the latter, led by Coach Recalcati, who convinces Luigi to leave his homeland to embark on a professional career in the sport he loves. At just 16 years old, he took part in and won the cadet and junior championships and even Serie A with Montepaschi and in 2004, his performance at the Under 18 European Championships focused the interest of overseas scouts, placing Gigi in sixth place in the exclusive ranking of the best European promises of his draft. There is a lot of attention on the young Sardinian boy, just as expectations are high and Gigi is unable to express all his talent in a context full of pressure like that of the Mens Sana dynasty. Better to grow elsewhere, in an environment better prepared to wait for him and make him grow and the transfer arrives. In Scafati Gigi manages to express his true value and the two years in Campania earned him a call-up to the senior national team and the desire of the top teams in Italy to sign him. Virtus Roma acquired his services following the suggestion of Dejan Bodiroga. In Rome all the talent of the Gallura player exploded which culminated, after 5 years, in 2013, with the final lost against the then unreachable Siena. And Gigi wants to leave his farewell to the capital in great style, with an amazing play, the one in game 2 when, starting from his own area, he goes on the counterattack and sinks a devastating dunk, breaking away from Olbia, crossing the Tyrrhenian Sea and sinking it with one hand into the basket of the PalaLottomatica
July 9, 2013 is a date to remember for Gigi. Just as at the beginning of the 20th century many of his countrymen abandoned their native land, leaving a piece of their heart there, Gigi arrives in the United States to tread the most famous parquets of world basketball. Detroit and the NBA welcome Gigi, who joins his compatriots Bargnani, Belinelli and Gallinari. The NBA, a dream, a point of arrival and the scenario in which to compete with the strongest, in which to express oneself in the footsteps of the greatest of all time. If only you were given the opportunity. The overseas adventure of Jesus, so nicknamed for the similarities with someone influential in the highest spheres of our existence, is not worthy of being remembered except with a hint of bitterness. In a year and a half spent in Mo-Town, 37 appearances, a bad injury and one of the most disheartening experiences of his entire career, the D-League. The move to Boston in the most successful franchise in the League seems to be good for Gigione, captain of the national team, so much so that minutes and percentages increase considerably, also earning the respect of Coach Stevens who classifies him as “one of the best shooters I have ever coached”. , but the overseas experience ends with Lebron’s Sweep which leads the Cavs to defeat Boston 4 to 0 in the first round of the 2015 Playoffs. 8.1 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists on average all in 55 appearances; not exactly the turnover Gigi expected to produce in his NBA career. The return to Europe is preceded by the European Championship held between Berlin and Lille, in which the captain was unable to contribute due to physical problems. To welcome Gigi’s beard is Zelimir Obradovic and the battleship Fenerbahçe. A team full of phenomena: Bogdanovic, Antic, Vesely, Udoh, Sloukas and Bobby Dixon in which it is difficult to emerge if you are not a true champion. But Gigi is. With the number 70 on his shoulders, as in his time in Boston, in memory of the year of birth of his first club, the Santa Croce di Olbia, he carved out the role of technical leader among many champions, the go to guy of difficult moments, the essential point in a team with interchangeable interpreters. But Lady Luck does not flirt with Gigi, in Turkey as for the rest of her career up to that point; Lady Luck who puts the unbeatable Siena in front of him in his period of maximum form in Rome; Lady Luck who obscures the sight of those who don’t consider him worthy of the NBA in Detroit; Lady Luck turned her back on him in the 2015 European Championship with perhaps the most talented national team ever, causing him an injury; Lady Luck who, in the guise of Victor Khryapa, brings him a tap in one second and nine tenths away from lifting that Euroleague which Fener have never won. But Gigi is stubborn, proud and has an immense heart and transmits his values to all of yellow-black Istanbul. The following year Fener tries again and this time at the Sinan Erdem Dome Olympiakos is overwhelmed by Turkish fury. Gigi scores 11 points and, as a fan idol, lifts the most prestigious cup on the old continent. In 2020 mum Italy wants him back home. It is Olimpia that provides him with a prestigious shirt and Gigi repays it with all his talent and devotion to the colors he wears. It is the year following the championship suspended due to Covid-19 and at the first event that offers a trophy Gigi raises his voice. 15 points and MVP title after the victory against VL in the Italian Cup final. But the Serie A championship was won by Virtus led by Milos Teodosic. There are two years left until the end of his contract and probably the end of his career and if he really has to leave his passion, Gigi wants to do it as a protagonist. Two triumphal rides in the championship with the exploit of the MVP title in the final series of the 2022-2023 championship. The last competition is missing before saying enough is missing, the last attempt to try to become a legend even with the national team shirt is missing, but in the Philippines, after beating the highly favored Serbia, sounding the charge for an incredible comeback, he has to surrender to the France. The last token spent by the boy born in Montebelluna and raised in Olbia was on 9 September 2023 against Slovenia. After his farewell match, all the love that Gigi dedicated to the game came back in a flood of displays of affection that overwhelmed the press room, newspapers, sports programs and social media. A Giant retreats, someone comments. A Sardinian Giant. A giant like the one found by chance in Mont’e Prama in the Cabras area (Oristano), where archaeological excavations, to the amazement of the farmer who started this story, brought to light thirty sandstone statues depicting archers , boxers and soldiers of enormous size. Thanks to these excavations, studies place Sardinia among the first lands frequented by man and clearly identify the fighting spirit of a proud and proud people. AND Gigi Datome has illuminated and still illuminates this thousand-year-old land in sport, like that moon sung by the late Bertoli and Parodi, which, emerging from behind the mountain, spreads light to the meadows in which children chase their dreams.
Francesco Rivano was born in 1980 in the deep south of Sardinia and grew up in Carloforte, the only inhabited center on the island of San Pietro. Graduated in Economics and Commerce from the University of Cagliari, he returns to his beloved island where he lives, works and cultivates his great passion for writing. Surrounded by the sea and fascinated by sport, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the love of basketball. He collaborated as an editor with some online magazines that mainly deal with NBA basketball, an experience that led him to develop the skills to write and publish his first work: “Ricordi al basket” linked to the history of basketball. And a few days ago he published his second, entitled “The escape route”. Link to purchase the book.
