Gigi Datome played his 200th career game for the Italy men’s national basketball team on Sunday evening, helping the Azzurri secure their spot in the quarterfinals following a dominant win over Puerto Rico in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
Datome, however, was just glad to secure the important win and move on to the knockout round. He said that his historic feat would not have meant anything if Italy had lost the match against Los Magnificos, simply because it would have been his last game for the national team.
The former EuroLeague champion had already announced that he would retire from basketball after the FIBA World Cup.
“Very happy. Very happy. If we would have lost, it was not a big celebration for me for 200 games,” said the 35-year-old Datome.
“It would have been my last if we were going home. I will remember this game with pleasure because it’s an important win for us,” he added.
The former Boston Celtics forward continued to perform well for the Azzurri, scoring 11 points, including three triples, to help his side complete a sweep of the second round, which included a tight 78-76 victory over powerhouse Serbia, where he contributed 10 points.
Italy will head to the final round with an overall record of 4-1 and will make the quarterfinals of the event for the first time since 1998.
“It happened for two games but I’m ready to help if this is the case but I always try to give my best, this game the ball didn’t go in. I try only to do the right things on the court. Sometimes, the ball goes in and you look at replay and the ball goes out… I try to find my balance,” said Datome.
“Regardless, [the game] is very important and [I’m] very happy about the result, I think we deserved the win. We played very good basketball, against a very good team, very dangerous team but I think we deserved the win so congrats to my teammates.”
