Mar 13, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) reacts in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Former Nuggets Standout Retires After 20 Seasons

Originally posted on Denver Nuggets on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Dec 2, 2025 11:27 AM ET

Former Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari has officially announced his retirement from basketball after 20 professional seasons.

Gallinari, 37, made the announcement via socials, ending his playing career after two decades both in the NBA and overseas.

"Today, with a heart full of gratitude, I am announcing my retirement from the career I’ve always dreamed of.

It’s been an incredible journey filled with countless memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

Today, with a heart full of gratitude, I am announcing my retirement from the career I’ve always dreamed of.

It’s been an incredible journey filled with countless memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UjRhTL8ZdP
— DANILO GALLINARI (@gallinari8888) December 2, 2025

Danilo Gallinari Officially Retires From Basketball

Gallinari, a former top-10 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, was a 14-year league veteran who spent nearly half of that time with the Nuggets after being included in the blockbuster trade that was the Carmelo Anthony deal of 2011–– and if it wasn't for the draft pick that turned out to be Jamal Murray in 2016, likely would've been the best piece in return Denver got for shipping out their franchise star.

Gallinari had six seasons with the Nuggets to play over 300 career games with the franchise, averaging 16.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists during his time with Denver, emerging as the team's leading scorer for a handful of years in the process.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

His best year with the Nuggets might've come during his second-to-last campaign in 2016, where he averaged 19.5 points a night, his best within six seasons in Denver, playing nearly 35 minutes a night––even while the team that year wound up finishing with a 33-49 record as a collective.

Gallinari was a part of two playoff appearances with the Nuggets in both 2011 and 2012, but wound up being a first-round exit in each, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

His time with the Nuggets would inevitably come to an end in the 2017 offseason when he was shipped off in a sign-and-trade with the LA Clippers, where he would go on to play a couple of years, then bounce around to a few other franchises like the Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, and even three total teams in his last season active in the NBA in 2022.

Now, after a couple of years overseas in Italy, Gallinari is hanging it up for good, ending the career of another major piece within the Nuggets' endeavors of the 2010s before the inevitable breakout of Nikola Jokić.