After a 20-year basketball career, former Milwaukee Bucks forward Danilo Gallinari is hanging up his shoes for good, per ESPN's Shams Charania. A well-traveled veteran, Gallinari helped several teams during his career, including the Bucks, who employed him for a brief time before he decided to head overseas to finish things out.
Bucks go down as the last NBA team Gallinari played for
The Bucks certainly didn't land prime Gallinari. They signed the forward in early 2024, reuniting him with Doc Rivers for what everyone hoped would be a deep postseason run. Unfortunately for them, Gallinari was clearly on his last leg. He was 35 that season and posted career lows in many statistical categories with the Milwaukee Bucks, mainly serving as a depth piece at the end of the bench.
Across 17 regular-season games, he averaged 2.8 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. He actually saw an increased role in the postseason because the Milwaukee Bucks were so banged up, but there was no resurgence. Gallinari was never expected to be a game-changer, but that would have been an excellent time for him to prove he still had something left in the tank.
He joined the Milwaukee Bucks when he was clearly in decline, but for over a decade, Gallinari was a legitimate rotational piece and solid playoff performer. His best years came with the Denver Nuggets, where he was a nearly 20-point scorer and shot the long ball well before 6-foot-10 players were as good at those as they are now. He was always in demand, and for good reason.
Years before he joined the Bucks, Gallinari played for the Hawks, where he tried to stop Milwaukee from making it to the NBA Finals. In six Eastern Conference Finals games, the forward averaged 13.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting a blistering 44 percent from deep. No matter how big of a thorn he was in Milwaukee's side, the Bucks were able to overcome his efforts and secure the win.
Rather than ending his basketball career on a sour note, Gallinari went overseas and finished things with a bang. In August, he helped lead the Vaqueros to a title, winning Finals MVP along the way. That is a far better storybook ending than going out on a whimper against the Indiana Pacers. Hats off to Galinari on a 20-year basketball career, including 16 in the NBA.
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