Luigi “Gigi” Datome on Saturday formally known as it a profession, hanging his jersey after an illustrious run that spanned for 20 years as he performed his final basketball recreation on the 2023 FIBA World Cup towards Slovenia.
Datome, nonetheless, couldn’t shut out his profession with a win because the Azzurri fell to Slovenia of their battle for seventh spot.
But the 35-year-old mentioned the long run is brilliant for Italy, stressing the truth that they’ve been persistently displaying they’re among the many high groups on this planet for the previous years.
“I think we showed in the last years, especially [the] Olympics, last EuroBasket and this year, that we are in the level of the first eight [teams] of every tournament,” Datome mentioned shortly after their 89-85 loss on the Mall of Asia Arena.
But the 6-foot-8 ahead is aware of there may be way more to be achieved.
“But of course, we miss something else. I think our team needs to mind the level that we need to reach if we want to compete for the medal, that’s the ultimate goal,” he added.
“We’re on a good level but we can do something more if we want to go farther. I think everybody should have this goal in the future because we are very close every time but we cannot break the wall of quarterfinals. Hopefully in the future we can.”
Datome began out his nationwide workforce profession in 2003, becoming a member of Italy’s youth workforce till he debuted within the seniors squad in 2007 for the EuroBasket. Since then, Datome had been a staple for the Italian nationwide workforce and would seem in two World Cup editions together with this one.
As knowledgeable participant, Datome, who went undrafted within the NBA in 2009, additionally suited up for a few NBA groups just like the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics.
He marked his final recreation on Saturday towards Slovenia, subbing out with nonetheless 3:26 to go within the fourth quarter as he acquired applause and a standing ovation from each groups in addition to the group.
“Thank you for kind applause. It showed a gesture of love and respect and I just wanna say thank you. Today was emotional, of course,” Datome added.
“As a captain, I am proud of this team for what we did.”
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
