Danilo Gallinari

Danilo Gallinari

Gallinari in October 2010
No. 8   Denver Nuggets
Small forward
Personal information
Date of birth	August 8, 1988 (1988-08-08)
Place of birth	Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Pro career	2004–present
Career history
2004-2005	Assigeco Casalpusterlengo (Italy)
2005–2006	Nuova Pallacanestro Pavia (Italy)
2006–2008	Olimpia Milano (Italy)
2008–2011	New York Knicks
2011–present	Denver Nuggets
2011	Olimpia Milano (Italy)
Career highlights and awards
Euroleague Rising Star (2008)
Stats at NBA.com

Danilo Gallinari (born August 8, 1988, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano) is an Italian professional basketball player with the Denver Nuggets of the NBA. He is 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) in height and 102.1 kg (225 lbs) in weight. Danilo mainly plays at the small forward position. His nickname is "Gallo" which is Italian for "Rooster".

Pro career

Italy

Gallinari's father, Vittorio Gallinari, played professional basketball with Olimpia Milano (along with future head coach Mike D'antoni), Pallacanestro Pavia, Virtus Bologna, and Scaligera Basket Verona in the Italian league.

Danilo Gallinari began playing professionally in 2004 for Casalpusterlengo, a team in Serie B1 (third level in Italy).

In 2005, Gallinari was acquired by Armani Jeans Milano, which then sent him to Edimes Pavia, a team competing in the Italian league second division championship during the 2005–2006 season, so that he could earn more experience with extended playing minutes. Even though he played only half of the season due to an injury, in 2006 he was nominated as the best Italian player of the Italian league second division championship, averaging 14.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 0.8 assists in 17 games.

In 2006, he was recalled by Olimpia Milano to play in the 2006–2007 Italian league first division championship and also in the second level tier European wide cup competition, the ULEB Cup. In his first season in the top Italian division, Gallinari was named as the league's best player under the of age 22, averaging 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 assists per game in 34 regular season games and 11.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 0.9 assists per game in 8 playoff games. During the season he also won the 2007 Italian All Star Game 3-point shootout contest.

He spent his last season with Milano in the top Italian league, finishing first in the league's overall efficiency ratings. During the 2007–2008 season, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 assists per game in 33 regular season games and 18.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 assists per game in 8 playoff games.

In the 2007–2008 season, he also played for the first time in the elite Europe-wide Euroleague competition, which is the first tier level continental club competition of Europe. In the Euroleague he averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in 11 games; he posted a season-high 27 points against Maccabi Tel Aviv in his final game. He made an instant impact on basketball courts around the continent and he was subsequently named the Euroleague 2007-08 season's Rising Star award winner.

NBA career

His contract with Olimpia Milano had an escape clause for playing professionally in the United States, effectively eliminating major encumbrances that would have prevented him from joining the NBA. On April 23, 2008, he decided to declare himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft. Gallinari signed an endorsement deal with Reebok before being drafted into the NBA. He has his own sneaker, made by Reebok, called "The Rooster."

Gallinari was drafted 6th overall in the 2008 draft by the New York Knicks. He then signed a two-year contract with the team.

In his first NBA Summer League game, Gallinari showed off his ball handling skills by executing a "Shammgod" dribble move in order to beat his defender to the basket and draw a foul.

2008-09 season

Just one game into the 08–09 season it was announced Gallinari would most likely miss most of the remainder of the season due to back problems. Despite his back problems, he came back into play on 17 January, during a game the Knicks lost to Philadelphia. On 4 March, Gallinari scored a season-high 17 points against the Atlanta Hawks, shooting 4–5 on three-point field goal attempts.

2009-10 season

On October 23, 2009, the Knicks picked up Gallinari's contract option.

With the Knicks freeing up roster space for Gallinari with the trade of Quentin Richardson, and with Al Harrington being relegated to the bench, head coach Mike D'Antoni named Gallinari a starter two games into the 2009 NBA season. On October 31, 2009, the third game of the 2009 season, Gallinari scored a career-high 30 points and made eight three-pointers in an overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, one short of tying a Knicks franchise record held by Latrell Sprewell and John Starks. Gallinari set a new career high on April 6, 2010, with 31 points in a 104-101 win over the Boston Celtics.

2010-11 season

On February 22, 2011, Gallinari was traded to the Denver Nuggets in a three-way blockbuster deal, which also involved the Minnesota Timberwolves, that brought Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York. In just his second game with the Nuggets, he almost matched his career high with a 30-point effort in an overtime loss against the Portland Trail Blazers.

2011 NBA lockout

During the 2011 NBA lockout he returned to Italy to play for Emporio Armani Milan.

2011-12 NBA season

On January 25, 2012, Gallinari re-signed with the Denver Nuggets on a 4 year, $42 million deal.

NBA career statistics

(Correct as of April 14, 2011)

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG	3PT	FT	ORPG	DRPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	New York	28	2	14.7	.448	.444	.963	0.5	1.5	2.0	0.5	0.5	0.1	6.1
2009–10	New York	81	74	33.9	.423	.381	.818	0.8	4.1	4.9	1.7	0.9	0.7	15.1
2010–11	New York	48	48	34.8	.415	.347	.893	1.0	3.8	4.8	1.7	0.8	0.4	15.9
2010–11	Denver	14	12	30.9	.412	.370	.772	0.8	4.6	5.4	1.6	0.9	0.6	14.7
Career		171	136	30.8	.421	.376	.847	0.8	3.6	4.4	1.5	0.8	0.5	13.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG	3PT	FT	ORPG	DRPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010–11	Denver	5	5	29.6	.432	.467	.714	0.2	3.2	3.4	2.0	0.8	0.0	12.0
Career		5	5	29.6	.432	.467	.714	0.2	3.2	3.4	2.0	0.8	0.0	12.0

Italian national team

Gallinari has been a member of the Under-16 and Under-18 junior men's Italian national basketball teams. He played at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and he won the bronze medal at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He was also selected as a member of the senior men's Italian national basketball team for the 2007 European Championship, but he was forced to withdraw due to an injury that he suffered during the preparation before the tournament.

External links

• Official website (Italian) (English)
• Danilo Gallinari at NBA.com
• Danilo Gallinari on Twitter