Active Italian NBA Players

There is currently a debate over how many active Italian NBA players are currently in the league. There are two we know for certain: Marco Belinelli (retired) and Danilo Gallinari. And there is one who is certainly no longer in the league (as of now) and his name is Andrea Bargnani.

Nicolo Melli

Melli is a power forward from Emilia-Romagna, Italy who went undrafted in 2008. After successful professional stints in Italy and Germany, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019. Melli brought rebounding and outside shooting to the team before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks and later the Milwaukee Bucks.

Simone Fontecchio

Fontecchio is a 26-year-old small forward from Pescara, Italy who signed a 2-year contract with the Utah Jazz in 2022. He was named the Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP the same year. Fontecchio is an athletic wing who can create his own shot and shows promise as a 3-and-D player.

Paolo Banchero

Banchero was born in Seattle, Washington but holds Italian citizenship through his father. The Orlando Magic selected Banchero with the #1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. At 6’10”, he is a uniquely skilled big man who can handle, shoot, and pass at a high level.

Why So Few Italians in the NBA?

Well, to be fair, there is more history with Italian players in the NBA, as there are a number of decently well known players over the last few decades:

• Andrea Bargnani
• Travis Diener
• Fabricio Oberto
• Gigi Datome
• Stefano Rusconi
• Vincenzo Esposito

But the answer is probably simply because Italy is not a huge country, and there has never been much of a national focus on the NBA in Italy. Perhaps the success of Belinelli and Gallinari will change that. (Check out our related post on Lithuanian NBA players!)

Italian NBA Players from 2019 and prior:

Marco Belinelli Bio & Stats

If you need instant offense, you want Steph Curry. But there are a handful of other players out there in the NBA, including this one from Italian descent, that can provide a fascimile of instant offense, and that is Italian Marco Belinelli. There is always a place in the NBA for a guy who can run, shoot, score, and more importantly, create his own shot. Marco can do all those things. Now, he might not be the best defender, but he has a lethal shot.

Even some of the coaching greats such as Greg Popovich have had to rely on Belinelli to bail them out of games with some fast paced, helter skelter offense which won’t be found in any playbook. Marco is currently playing for the aimless Sacremento Kings, and this is probably because they gave him more money than he would have gotten elsewhere – 3 years for $22 million.

Danilo Gallinari Bio & Stats

Once hailed as the greatest shooter in NBA history by fellow Italian Mike D’Antoni (Gallinari promptly went into a shooting slump after receiving that title while on the New York Knicks), Danilo has etched himself out into a solid above average role player. While he won’t be receiving any All Star nods any time soon, he is a sweet shooter who can give you 20 points on any given night.

Most New Yorkers know him as the primary trade piece when Danilo’s current team the Denver Nuggets traded for him and a few others for Carmelo Anthony. Even Knicks fans know that Denver got the better end of that deal.