BallinEurope’s Enrico Cellini gives us some excellent highlights from a recent interview between his countryman Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets and Italy-based daily Gazzetta dello Sport. Gallinari is nicely candid in the piece on topics ranging from the comparison of the ladies in Milan, New York and Denver to el jefe himself, NBA commissioner David Stern. Read on for some Danilo, translated but uncensored…
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Danilo Gallinari goes through his lifestyle in Denver: “I want to live downtown – I’m looking for a house.” Regarding food, a crucial issue for every Italian abroad, he says, “I have been doing some ‘scouting’: I found a couple of pretty good restaurants. One is downtown and is managed by an Italian guy. The other one is in Cherry Creek, a neighborhood full of shops and fun places. It’s the closest thing you can get to Corso Como,” recalling a commercial street in the center of Milan, very close to where he was living during his term with Euroleague club Emporio Armani Milano.
The comparison with the more glamorous Milan and New York to Denver comes inevitably. “Yeah, I’m feeling the difference,” says Gallinari. “We are in the provinces here. I need to get used to it. They send you to bed earlier – which is positive – and there is less temptation. Women are less aggressive, you might need to fall in love,” he jokes.
Talking about basketball, Gallinari comments the intensive calendar of the post-lockout NBA season: “A Nuggets fan asked me the other day, ‘How are we supposed to watch one game after another?’ He’s right. We’re one those teams that will play three games in three days: on December 31st in L.A. against the Lakers, January 1st at home against the Lakers again and January 2nd in Milwaukee. It’s crazy!”
On the end of the lockout, Gallinari says, “I’m happy to start playing again but not happy about other things. We the players have made some mistakes during the lockout and lost a lot of money. It’s not the best deal for us” and he reckons that “David Stern has never missed a trick since when he’s been the head of the NBA.”
Gallinari is resolute to become a leader of the new Nuggets, stating that “Coach [George] Karl believes in me, he wants me to become a fundamental player for the team. We lost some key players, and our GM will need to work at night to build a credible team. But I’m not worried, the Nuggets have made it to the playoffs each of the past eight years. The project is good, and the important thing for me is playing.”
Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.
