Is Belinelli leaving on a high?

One of Italian basketball’s favorite sons perhaps waved goodbye to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Thursday night and Virtus Segafredo Bologna’s sharpshooter Marco Belinelli made sure that his farewell was something to remember as he rolled back the years by scoring 21 points in his team’s 89-84 victory against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.
The 37-year-old – a veteran of nearly 1,000 NBA appearances including the 2014 title with San Antonio Spurs – was given an early and perhaps sentimental boost by Virtus coach Sergio Scariolo as he was named in the starting lineup for the first time all season.
He immediately started by doing what he does best: shooting three-pointers. A couple of them came early on, and Belinelli kept unloading from deep throughout the night as he ended with 21 points – his second-highest of the season – on 5-of-10 three-point shooting, also converting his only two-point shot and 4-of-5 from the foul line.
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Belinelli started his career with hometown club Virtus way back in 2002 and then joined crosstown team Fortitudo for four seasons. Then came his long stint in the United States, before making an emotional return to the club where it all started in 2020, helping Virtus back into the EuroLeague by triumphing in last season’s 7DAYS EuroCup. With the club’s future EuroLeague status uncertain, this might be the last time we will see Belinelli at the continent’s highest level and draining three-pointers to help win an Italian derby was the perfect way to sign out.