Marco Belinelli’s first steps in America

The Italian sharpshooter suddenly became a hot name in the summer when he lit up the Las Vegas Summer League. On Tuesday was his first official NBA game…

I had the chance to talk to Marco a couple of months ago for an article for REVERSE while he was with Team Italy getting ready for the European Championships. He definitely is a very shy guy, not saying much, letting his game speak for himself. I learnt more talking to his friends and former teammates Stefano Mancinelli or Daniele Cavaliero or his former coaches like Jasmin Repesa. I learnt several little things that you might not know. Like the fact that Marco’s father is one of the most respected surgeons in Bologna or that he liked playing with the Suns at NBA Live and would only play with Nash jacking up threes.

But the most interesting thing I learnt from Marco is the kind of pressure he’s been through. Back when he was 17, his Bologna team (Kinder) went bankrupt and -to keep on playing at the highest level- he had to transfer to the bitter enemies of Fortitudo Bologna. For the rest of his Italian career, he was considered a hero by half of the city and a traitor by the other half of the city. He would be booed badly whenever he’d play in front of his former fans. But still he always buried his shots in those games and showed he had ice in his blood. That’s one of the reasons why I think Marco will succeed in the League.

But Tuesday was a bit of a false start for Marco. He was at once said to start in this Warriors team. But in the end Monta Ellis did and Marco spent 12 minutes and bastà on the floor. He did make 2 of his 3 three point shots but his team lost badly. By 21 at home against the Jazz.

I thought I knew a lot about Marco but I still happened to learn some more today reading an excellent article on the Gazzetta dello Sport website (Italian language). Various things I learnt : Marco can’t drive (1 thing Marco & I have in common, on top of the jumpshot) so he asked one of his best friends to come over and be his driver. He lives in a big house close to the Berkeley campus in San Francisco. He was nicknamed “Cookies Monster” by his teammates because of his love for American cookies. The only thing is that this love made him take 4 kilos… He’s now supposed to get easy on the cookies. Last but not least, Kobe gave him his number and they’re trading SMS. Yeah Marco’s life could be a dream come true…if only he could dance…