Italy - Knicks' Gallinari makes journey to NBA relevance

From probasketballnews.com
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Danilo Gallinari traveled a long way from Italy to play in the National Basketball Association. But it is his journey in the figurative sense, his progression as an NBA player, that has been most impressive.

He is only 20-years old, living in a country that is foreign to him, playing for the first time in the world's most heralded basketball league. And it has been less than two months since he returned from a back injury that kept him out of all but one prior game this season.

Yet Gallinari has ventured far. Since coming back on Jan. 17, he has emerged as an important part of the New York Knicks' rotation. Just four days after returning, Gallinari scored double digits for the first time in his NBA career, and his evolution has continued nicely since then.

Sunday against the New Jersey Nets, Gallinari played nearly 25 minutes off the bench, and scored 15 points, shooting 60 percent from the field. One-fifth of his scoring came late in the fourth quarter, when he knocked down a three-pointer that gave the visiting Knicks a 99-98 lead. Though New York went on to lose the game, 106-101, it was hard not to notice how much Gallinari already means to the team. More and more, he has the look of a player who will soon be indispensable.

Gallinari has been nicknamed "The Rooster," which may not be all that appropriate, because he does not come off as being cocky. Confident, yes, but not cocky. Gallinari says he expected to be where he is at this early stage of his NBA life.

"I'm not surprised," he said after Sunday's game. "I know the type of player I am. And I know I can improve, but I also know what I can do."

Gallinari was born on Aug. 8, 1988, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy. Perhaps genetics pre-destined him to be a professional basketball player, because his father, Vittorio Gallinari, played pro ball with four Italian teams -- Olimpia Milano, Pallacanestro Pavia, Virtus Bologna and Scaligera Basket Verona. While playing for Olimpia Milano, Vittorio Gallinari was a teammate and roommate of American player Mike D'Antoni, who is now the Knicks' head coach.

Danilo Gallinari was only 15 when he turned professional with Casalpusterlengo. By the 2005-06 season, he was a member of Edimes Pavia, for whom he averaged 14.3 points in 17 games. Gallinari went on to play for Olimpia Milano, and posted double-digit scoring averages for the remainder of his Italian league career.

Last April, Gallinari declared for the NBA Draft, and two months later, he was chosen sixth overall by the Knicks. Though the selection was met with some boos at the time it was announced, Gallinari has since become a favorite of Knick fans.

While adjusting to the NBA, Gallinari is also transitioning to life as a resident of the United States and a New York sports celebrity.

"I'm excited," he said. "I'm happy to be a part of this team and a part of this society ... (I'm) excited every game and every day at practice."

Gallinari has the height (6-foot-10) of a center or power forward, but is capable of playing all five positions. He has often been compared to Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, another European transplant who is versatile on the court. But Gallinari cannot yet play at Nowitzki's level.

"I still have to show a lot of things," Gallinari said. "Time by time, step by step, that will come."