Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team, based in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes referred as "Scarpette Rosse" (Little Red Shoes) because team officials imported red Converse All-Star shoes for players from the United States. The tag line stuck, and the nickname is still used by many fans today. As per custom in the Italian league, sponsorship has kept the team name changing frequently. From 1930 until 1955, it was called Borletti Milano. From 1956 to 1973, it was renamed Simmenthal. Other famous sponsorship names were Billy, Simac, Tracer, and Philips, in the 1980s. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below. Olimpia is the most successful basketball club in Italy and one of the most successful in Europe, having won 31 Italian League Championships, 8 Italian National Cups, 5 Italian Super Cups, 3 EuroLeague, 1

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

, 3

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

s, 2

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

s and many junior titles. In 2016, the club was included in the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame.

History

The birth and the Borletti era (1930–1955)

The birth of Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano is traditionally dated 1936, year of the first Italian League Championship title won by the team. Actually it was founded 6 years earlier (in 1930) as "Dopolavoro Borletti" by Fratelli Borletti managers. Borletti team won 4 consecutive Italian League Championships from

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

to 1939. In 1947, Milan businessman Adolfo Bogoncelli merged Pallacanestro Como and Borletti to form a new society, commonly known as "Borolimpia". "Borletti" brand was the main sponsor of the team, becoming the first sponsor in the history of Italian sport. In 1955, after 9 Italian League Championships, Borletti brand leaves Olimpia Milano jersey.

The Simmenthal era (1956–1973)

The team regularly won the Italian League Championship in the 1950s and the 1960s, with players including Gabriele Vianello, Sandro Riminucci, Gianfranco Pieri, and Bill Bradley. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, Olimpia won its first FIBA European Champions Cup. In the 1970s, three teams were fighting across Europe for supremacy: Olimpia Milano, Ignis Varese, and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Pallacanestro Varese and Olimpia Milano were arch-rivals, as the two cities are 25 miles (40 km) apart. While Milano was a frequent Italian League champion, they were unable to win again the prestigious FIBA European Champions Cup. Late in the 1970s, the quality of the club declined, but Olimpia Milano still managed to win a FIBA Cup Winners' Cup. In 1973, Simmenthal brand leaves Olimpia jersey after 17 years and 10 Italian League Championships.

1974–2007

In the 1970s through the 1980s, the team acquired several notable players, including the Boselli twins (Franco and Dino), Mike Sylvester, Chas Menatti, Dino Meneghin, Mike D'Antoni, John Gianelli, Roberto Premier. Bob McAdoo, Joe Barry Carroll, Russ Schoene, Antoine Carr, and Mike Brown. American

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Dan Peterson led the team back to prominence. In the 1980s, the team was sold to the Gabetti family. After this, they qualified for nine Serie A championships finals, winning five, with the 1987 team winning the Serie A title, the 1986–87 FIBA European Champions Cup (won also in 1988: both finals were won against Maccabi Tel Aviv), the Italian Cup and the 1987 FIBA Club World Cup. This gave the club the coveted "Triple Crown" and the even rarer "Quadruple Crown". Led by point guard Sasha Djordjević, the team won another

in 1993. Bepi Stefanel purchased the team franchise in 1994, and signed-up notable European players like Dejan Bodiroga, Gregor Fučka, Sandro De Pol, and Nando Gentile. In 1996, the team won the Italian Cup and its 25th Italian National Championship, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the club. Team management was inconsistent, as ownership groups from 1998 to 2004. Players of the team included Warren Kidd, Hugo Sconochini, Claudio Coldebella and Petar Naumoski. In 2005, owner Corbelli, which bought the club in 2002, from Sergio Tacchini, was flanked by Adriano Galliani (managing director of Italian Football club A.C. Milan), Massimo Moratti (President of rival club Internazionale), NBA star Kobe Bryant, and stylist

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

, as sponsor with the Armani Jeans brand. After difficult years, led by coach Lino Lardo, Olimpia reached the national championship Finals, finally being beaten by Climamio Bologna. On January 25, 2006, in the midst of a disappointing season in the EuroLeague and domestically, Djordjevic was named as the team's new coach. He left as coach after the 2006–07 season, but not before securing Olimpia a berth in the 2007–08 Euroleague.

2008–present

In 2008,

bought the team from Giorgio Corbelli, standing as the only owner, entirely changing the management structure, naming Livio Proli as president, and Lucio Zanca as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Piero Bucchi was chosen to coach the new team, leading Olimpia twice to second place in LEGA Basket, being defeated by Montepaschi Siena in both cases. Alessandro Gentile

In January 2011, after 23 years away from coaching, Dan Peterson came back from retirement at the request of team owner

to replace Piero Bucchi, who was fired in mid-season. Peterson was hired on an interim basis and agreed to coach only the remainder of the season, in which he guided the team to the semi-finals. On June 9, Olimpia Milano announced Sergio Scariolo as new head coach for the 2011–12 season. The first player signed for the 2011–12 season was Omar Cook, an American-born play maker, who had played the previous season with Power Electronics Valencia. Owing to the NBA lockout, Danilo Gallinari went back to his alma mater, playing 15 games (8 in the Italian League, 7 in EuroLeague): he left the team in December. Sergio Scariolo was replaced by Luca Banchi at the beginning of the 2013–14 season, and the team brought from Montepaschi Siena: David Moss, Kristjan Kangur, and Daniel Hackett. The team reached the quarterfinals of EuroLeague, 16 years after its last appearance, but the team lost against the eventual league champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv. The team finished in the 1st position the LEGA Basket regular season, and in the 7th game of the playoff's finals, Olimpia won its 26th Italian League championship title, its first after 18 years. Alessandro Gentile, the captain of Olimpia, was named MVP of the finals. On June 29, 2017, Simone Pianigiani was hired as the new head coach and on June 15, 2018, Milano went to win his 28th title by beating Dolomiti Energia Trento in game 6 of the 2018 LBA Finals. On June 11, 2019, legend Ettore Messina signed a deal as the new head coach of the club and president of all basketball operations for the following three seasons. On May 4, 2021, the club reached the Euroleague Final Four after 29 years ( 1992 Final Four).

Logos

Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano logo.svg, (The current non-sponsorship logo of the club). Logo EA7 Milano.png , (The Emporio Armani era sponsorship logo of the club). Logo Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano.png , (A previous non-sponsorship logo of the club).

Arenas

Secondary Arenas

Olimpia Milano used the OND Borletti outdoor court of Via Costanza for almost 20 years. In the mid-1940s, they moved to the Palazzo dello Sport della Fiera, which had a seating capacity of 18,000 people, and was then the largest indoor sports arena in Europe, and second only to the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1960, the Palazzo dello Sport della Fiera was abandoned, and Olimpia moved into the original structure of the PalaLido, which then had a smaller seating capacity of 3,500, but because of lack of security measures at the time, often was filled with up to 10,000 people. At the end of the 1970s, Olimpia moved into the newly built Palasport di San Siro, a multi-purpose facility built next to the Meazza Stadium, that was able to hold about 15,000 spectators. In 1985, the roof of the Palasport di San Siro collapsed and Olimpia returned to PalaLido for a season, waiting for the construction of a provisional arena. In 1986, they moved into the recently built 10,045 seat PalaTrussardi, where they played through the early 1990s. The club then moved into its current home arena, the Mediolanum Forum, which has a seating capacity of 12,700. The club has also played some home games at the 6,700 seat PalaDesio. Recently, the club considered moving back to the newly rebuilt and modernized PalaLido (named Allianz Cloud), after it was remodeled, and had its seating capacity expanded. However, the club ultimately decided to continue using the Mediolanum Forum as its home arena, due to its much larger seating capacity, as compared to the new Allianz Cloud. However, the new arena is used when Mediolanum Forum is unavailable.

Honours

Domestic competitions

* Italian League : Winners (31): 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 : Runners-up (18): 1934, 1940–41, 1955–56, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1990–91, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2020–21 * Italian Cup : Winners (8): 1971–72, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1995–96, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2021–22 : Runners-up (3): 1969–70, 2014–15, 2023–24 * Italian Supercup : Winners (5): 2016, 2017,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, 2024 : Runners-up (4): 1996, 2014,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, 2021

European competitions

* EuroLeague : Winners (3): 1965–66, 1986–87, 1987–88 : Runners-up (2): 1966–67, 1982–83 : Semifinalists (3): 1963–64, 1967–68, 1972–73, 1985–86 : 3rd place (2): 1991–92, 2020–21 : Final Four (5):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, 1988,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, 2021 *

(defunct) : Winners (3): 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76 : Runners-up (2): 1983–84, 1997–98 : Semifinalists (1): 1976–77 *

(defunct) : Winners (2): 1984–85, 1992–93 : Runners-up (2): 1994–95, 1995–96 : Semifinalists (3): 1977–78, 1988–89, 1993–94 * European Basketball Club Super Cup (semi-official, defunct) : 3rd place (2): 1985, 1989 : 4th place (2): 1986,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

* Latin Cup (defunct) : Winners (1):

: Runners-up (1):

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

* European Tournament (San Remo) (defunct) : Winners (2): 1952, 1954

Worldwide competitions

: Winners (1):

: 3rd place (2):

, 1968 * McDonald's Championship (defunct) : 3rd place (2):

, 1989

Unofficial

* Triple Crown : Winners (1): 1986–87 * Small Triple Crown : Winners (1): 1971–72

Other Competitions

* Castellanza, Italy Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2007 * Memoriale di Tulio Rochlitzer : Winners (1): 2007 * Torneo Caorle : Winners (2): 2007, 2011 * Reggio Emilia, Italy Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2008 * Torneo Lombardia : Winners (2): 2009, 2016 * Torneo Castelleto Ticino : Winners (3): 2009, 2018, 2019 * Verona, Italy Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2011 * Trofeo de Ejea de los Caballeros : Winners (1): 2011 * Belgrade, Serbia Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2014 * Torneo del Circuito della Valtellina : Winners (1): 2014 * Trofeo Memorial Gianni Brusinelli : Winners (1): 2016 * Torneo Lovari : Winners (1): 2017 * Torneo Lucca : Winners (1): 2019 * Milan, Italy Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2019

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Retired numbers

Season by season

Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions

Matches against NBA teams

Sponsorship names

Through the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as: *Borletti (1930–1955) *Simmenthal (1955–1973) * Innocenti (1973–1975) * Cinzano (1975–1978) *Billy (1978–1983) *Simac (1983–1986) *Tracer (1986–1988) * Philips (1988–1993) * Recoaro (1993–94) *Stefanel (1994–1998) *

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

(1998–99) * Adecco (1999–2002) *Pippo (2002–03) * Breil (2003–04) * Armani Jeans (2004–2011) * EA7 Emporio Armani (2011–2018) * AX Armani Exchange (2018–2022) * EA7 Emporio Armani (2022–present)

Notable players

* #9 Cesare Rubini (1948–1957) * #7 Sergio Stefanini (1949–1955) * #5 Enrico Pagani (1949–1960) * #3 Romeo Romanutti (1950–1958) * #8 Sandro Gamba (1950–1963) * #7 Gianfranco Pieri (1955–1968) * #10 Sandro Riminucci (1956–1970) * #9 Paolo Vittori (1959–1965) * #6 Gabriele Vianello (1962–1967) * #8 Massimo Masini (1963–1974) * #5 Giulio Iellini (1964–1975) * #18, #9 Vittorio Ferracini (1967–1969, 1973–1983) * #6 Giuseppe Brumatti (1967–1977) * #13 Renzo Bariviera (1969–1975) * #12 Vittorio Gallinari (1976–1987) * #11 Dino Meneghin (1980–1990, 1993–1994) * #10 Roberto Premier (1981–1989) * #7 Riccardo Pittis (1984–1993) * #12 Antonello Riva (1989–1994) * #5 Ferdinando Gentile (1994–1998) * #9 Marco Mordente (1996–2000, 2008–2011) * #11, #9 Massimo Bulleri (2005–2008, 2008–2009, 2009–2010) * #8 Danilo Gallinari (2006–2008; 2011) * #6 Stefano Mancinelli (2009–2012) * #9, #18 Nicolò Melli (2010–2015, 2021–2024) * #25, #5 Alessandro Gentile (2011–2016) * #13 Simone Fontecchio (2016–2019) * #00 Amedeo Della Valle (2018–2020) * #70 Luigi Datome (2020–2023) * #9 Skip Thoren (1965–1966) * #15 Bill Bradley (1965–1966) * #18 Art Kenney (1970–1973) * #15 Mike Sylvester (1975–1980) * #8 Mike D'Antoni (1977–1990) * #15 Joe Barry Carroll (1984–1985) * #14 Russ Schoene (1984–1986) * #13 Ken Barlow (1986–1987) * #15 Bob McAdoo (1986–1990) * #13 Ricky Brown (1987–1988) * #15 Darryl Dawkins (1991–1992) * #10 Antonio Davis (1992–1993) * #4, #19 Aleksandar Đorđević (1992–1994, 2005) * #47, #10 Hugo Sconochini (1993–1995, 2002–2004) * #10 Dejan Bodiroga (1994–1996) * #7 Gregor Fučka (1994–1997) * #15 Rolando Blackman (1995–1996) * #9 Giorgos Sigalas (1997–1998) * #12 Melvin Booker (1998–1999, 2007–2008) * #15 Mindaugas Katelynas (2007–2009) * #14, #34 David Hawkins (2008–2009, 2010–2011) * #12 Richard Mason Rocca (2008–2012) * #8 Jonas Mačiulis (2009–2011) * #15 Marijonas Petravičius (2009–2011) * #15 Ioannis Bourousis (2011–2013) * #7 Malik Hairston (2011–2013) * #23 Keith Langford (2012–2014) * #55 Curtis Jerrells (2013–2014; 2017–2019) * #24 Samardo Samuels (2013–2015) * #13 Milan Mačvan (2015–2017) * #43 Krunoslav Simon (2015–2017) * #21 Rakim Sanders (2016–2017) * #9 Mantas Kalnietis (2016–2018) * #0 Drew Goudelock (2017–2018) * #45 Dairis Bertāns (2017–2019) * #77 Artūras Gudaitis (2017–2020) * #5 Vladimir Micov (2017–2021) * #2 Mike James (2018–2019) * #19 Mindaugas Kuzminskas (2018–2019) * #16 Nemanja Nedović (2018–2020) * #32 Jeff Brooks (2018–2021) * #40 Luis Scola (2019–2020) * #13 Sergio Rodriguez (2019–2022) * #2 Zach LeDay (2020–2021, 2024–present) * #23 Malcolm Delaney (2020–2022) * #42 Kyle Hines (2020–present) * #31 Shavon Shields (2020–present) * #22 Devon Hall (2021–2024) * #12 Billy Baron (2022–2024) * #0 Brandon Davies (2022–2023) * #5 Kevin Pangos (2022–2023) * #77 Johannes Voigtmann (2022–2024) * #33 Nikola Mirotić (2023–present) *

Ben Bentil Benjamin Bentil (born March 29, 1995) is a Ghanaian professional basketball player for ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the French LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. He played two seasons of college basketball for Providence Friars men's basketball, Provi ...

Notes

References

External links

*
2018-19 LBA team page

2018-19 Euroleague team page
{{Lega Basket Serie A 1930 establishments in Italy Basketball teams established in 1930 Basketball teams in Lombardy EuroLeague clubs EuroLeague-winning clubs Sport in Milan