Pierluigi Marzorati in 2011
Pierluigi Marzorati (born September 12, 1952 in Figino Serenza, Italy) is an Italian former basketball player who won the silver medal with Italy at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the title in the 1983 European Championship, plus three bronze medals at the 1971, 1975 and 1985 European Championships.
Marzorati eventually played 278 matches for the Italian national team scoring 2209 points. He is considered one of the best points guards of all time in Europe and was named the European Player of the Year: Mister Europa in 1976. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame, and in 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.
He was one of the key players of the Pallacanestro Cantù team (in which he played from 1969 to 1991), winning 2 Italian league titles (in 1975 and 1981), 2 European Basketball Champions' Cups (1982 and 1983), 4 Korać Cups (1973, 1974, 1975 and 1991), 2 Intercontinental Cups (1975 and 1982) and 4 Cup Winners' Cups (1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981). He first announced his retirement in 1991 after playing his whole career for Pallacanestro Cantù. After that, he became a vice-president for the club and served in that capacity until 1996.
In July 2006, Marzorati decided to come back at age 54 to top class competitions with Pallacanestro Cantù for the 70th anniversary of the team. On October 6, 2006, he finally appeared in an official match for Cantù, playing two minutes in a Serie A league game against national champions Benetton Treviso, won 70-69. This way, he became the first basketball player in history to have played official matches in five different decades, as well as the oldest professional basketball player to have ever taken part in an official match.
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Marzorati, Pierluigi |
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Basketball player |
| Date of birth |
September 12, 1952 |
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