The tattoos on Marco Belinelli’s left arm keep the things dearest to him close to his heart. There is a rendering of a fedora, the hat that his beloved grandfather would wear everywhere he went. Two series of modestly inscribed numbers represent the birthdates of his mother and father. And lastly, there is the Larry O’Brien trophy resting atop the date, 15 June, 2014. For that was the day that Marco Belinelli became the first Italian born player to win an NBA Championship. “These are the things that mean everything to me,” he says.
For most boys growing up in Italy, soccer is religion. But growing up in Bolonga, Italy, Belinelli was always a fanatical believer in basketball. “I started playing the game with my brother, Enrico,” he says. “Enrico gave me the passion for the sport. I would stay up to watch the NBA games at 2 a.m., when they were on television in my country. Sometimes I wouldn’t go to sleep until 5 a.m. Like everyone, I always watched Michael Jordan, but my team was the Knicks. I really loved that team when I was young—John Starks, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley. They had that warrior spirit.”
It was Belinelli’s spirit and passion for the game, along with a lot of practice, that allowed him to become a pro basketball player in Italy at age 16. There, he first met a face that would become very familiar. “In Bologna,” he remembers, “Manu Ginobli was my teammate. Can you believe it? I practiced with him when I was really young. Now we’ve won a championship together in San Antonio. It will be a great story to tell my kids.”
Playing pro basketball in Europe as a teenager is its own form of higher education. You are playing against men much older, vastly more experienced and decidedly more physical. You’re beginning to play on the road for days at a time. You have to learn to take care of yourself. “At the time, I was happy to be a pro,” he remembers. “I was doing what I wanted to do. But the dream was always to play against the best in the NBA.”
In 2007, at age 20, Belinelli was drafted in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. After playing three seasons for the Warriors, he joined the Toronto Raptors, before making stops in New Orleans and Chicago. It wasn’t until last season that he felt he found a home, signing as a free agent in San Antonio.
“I’ve been very lucky,” he says. “Everywhere I’ve played, I’ve been in great cities. I was only 20 when I lived in San Francisco. At the beginning, you don’t want to change. You’re scared about a new city, making new friends, new teammates, new coaches. But now, I love the experience. Every place I’ve ever played, I became a better person, a better player, made lots of new friends. It’s been a great way to live life.”
With San Antonio, Belinelli now feels he’s mature enough to appreciate the opportunity he has with an organization known for taking care of its players. “I have unbelievable teammates,” he says. “The organization is fantastic. And Pops [coach Gregg Popovich] is the best! I’m surrounded by positive people who really care about me. They want to see me get better as a player and as a person.”
The results speak for themselves. In his first year, Belinelli was an important contributor to a championship Spurs team. And during last year’s All-Star Weekend, he jumped into the national spotlight by winning the Three-Point Shootout.
The worldwide attention made Belinelli a perfect candidate to become a brand ambassador for Dolce & Gabbana. The designers have taken great pride in what their Italian countryman has been able to achieve in the NBA. “What we wear is such an important part of what we do now,” Belinelli says. “Everywhere we go now, photographers are waiting when we arrive. People want to see how we dress. Dressing well is important to me and it doesn’t get any better than Dolce & Gabbana.”
Belinelli is enjoying his time in the spotlight, but he also understands the importance of it. “The good thing about winning a championship, the Three-Point Shootout, is that people begin to follow you more,” he says. “Because you’ve won something, people try to use you as an example for themselves, which is perfect for me. I want to be the example for the little guy that wants to be a professional player and win a championship. I’m not very big or strong. I’m only 6-foot-5, 220 pounds. It’s not impossible to be my size. If you believe in what you do and never give up, you can go as far as your passion takes you.”
