Knicks draft pick, basketball veteran Danilo Gallinari announces retirement

New York Knicks draft pick Danilo Gallinari has bid “arrivederci” to professional basketball.

Gallinari, the sixth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, officially announced his retirement from the pros on Tuesday, ending a career that began on Madison Square Garden’s floors in Manhattan. Most recently stationed in Puerto Rico, Gallinari played 14 NBA seasons between New York, Denver, Los Angeles (Clippers), Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Washington, Detroit, and Milwaukee.

“Today, with a heart full of gratitude, I am announcing my retirement from a career I’ve always dreamed of,” Gallinari said in the caption of an Instagram video commemorating his career in American and abroad. “[It was] a career built through hard work, sacrifice, victories, defeats, teammates who became brothers, guidance from my coaches, and, of course, family and friends that were with me every step of the way.”

“It’s been an incredible journey filled with countless memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. To those who believed in me, to all those who supported me, and to those who shared every moment with me – thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I’m beyond excited for the next chapter!”

A lauded Italian prospect, the 6-10 forward Gallinari played his first NBA games under head coach Mike D’Antoni, a teammate of Gallinari’s father Vittorio. He is one of only four Italian-born players (Marco Belinelli, Reggie Jackson, 2006 top pick Andrea Bargnani) to be chosen in the opening round of an NBA Draft and stands as the Association’s all-time Italian leader in points (11,607) and rebounds (3,618).

The younger Gallinari would play two-plus seasons with the Knicks, averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. His most notable effort as a New Yorker was perhaps a 30-point performance during an overtime loss to Philadelphia at the onset of his sophomore season in 2009, which saw him hit eight three-pointers, one short of the then-franchise single-game record.

In Knicks lore, Gallinari is perhaps best-known for being one of the headlining pieces of the trade that sent Denver Nuggets franchise face Carmelo Anthony back home to New York in 2011.

“I just remember watching Gallo and just saying, ‘Gosh, if I could get to that level,'” former teammate Knicks and then-Atlanta Hawks general manager Landry Fields said of Gallinari in 2021, per KL Chouinard of the Hawks’ official site. “The intelligence that he played with and the consistent effort that he played with were things I looked up to in Gallo. We’re about the same age. Those were things where he didn’t have to say much to me, but I could just watch and get a real look at what it meant to be an NBA player.”

Despite continuing to deal with numerous injury woes (such as a back issue that limited him to 28 games during his rookie season Manhattan and further ailments that wiped out two full seasons on his ledger), Gallinari would establish himself as a reliable depth star for the rest of his career, which saw him average 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds.

His finest season came with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018-19, when Gallinari put up career-bests in points (19.8) and rebounds (6.1). In other career highlights, Gallinari was also a major asset in the Hawks’ run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, which took out the Knicks in the opening round.

Gallinari’s most recent NBA action came with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024. While the aforementioned final four run with the Hawks was the closest he came to a Larry O’Brien Trophy hoist, Gallinari found earned a long-sought professional championship with Vaqueros de Bayamón of Baloncesto Superior Nacional, the top Puerto Rican league. Working with fellow former Knicks Renaldo Balkman, Gallinari guided the Vaqueros to their 17th BSN championship and won MVP honors for the final series.