NBA champion sharpshooter retires!

When I woke up this morning, I suddenly saw a message when I was browsing my phone, and my heart skipped a beat: Marco Belinelli, the man we have been calling for "Italian cannon" for more than ten years, posted a message on the social media and officially announced his retirement.

He said: "I gave my sincerity to basketball, and basketball gave me everything, and I gave everything. It's not easy to say goodbye, but it's time."

Just a few words, I was stunned for a long time, and my mind was full of the scene of throwing the ball into the basket with my neck tilted.

Many fans remember Belinelli for the first time because he was wearing a messy hair, his neck tilted, his hand fell, and he took the trophy home in the 2014 All-Star Weekend three-point competition. That year he was still with the Spurs, and won the championship with GDP, becoming the first Italian to wear an NBA ring.

But if you only remember this, you will underestimate him too much.

He has been playing in Bologna, Italy since he was 16 years old. He debuted in 2002 and helped his old club win the Serie A championship again in 2025. He has been in a 23-year career and has won the Italian league three times. He also took time to play in the NBA for 13 seasons, 860 regular season games, averaging 9.7 points and a three-point shooting percentage of 37.6%.

This number doesn't seem to be explosive, but those who really understand the ball know that he relies on one trick: just give him half a step of space, he can send the ball into the basket, no matter who is in front of him.

What impressed me most was the 2013-14 playoffs. In the sixth game of the Thunder, the last two minutes left, the Spurs were two points behind, Popovich drew a tactic, and the ball was passed to Belinelli. He was not even lucky, so he tilted his neck and threw it out. The ball entered the whistle and the whole game was in full bloom. After the ball, the commentator yelled: "This is the Italian cannon, never give him an empty space!"

Later, I watched the replay in the bar, and a man wearing a Warriors jersey at the next table also yelled. After the yell, he realized: "Hey, this guy was the rookie we chose before!"

Yes, in the 2007 draft, the Warriors brought him into the NBA with the 18th pick in the first round, and was with Durant and Oden.

He was traded not long after playing with the Warriors, and later he went to Raptors, Hornets, Bulls, Spurs, Kings, Hawks, and 76ers, almost running the league.

Some people joked about him as a "homebody", but I think this is exactly the romance of professional players: as long as you need to shoot, I come with my luggage, leave after the shot, and nothing nonsense.

In 2020, he left the NBA and returned to Italy. He was 39 years old and helped Bologna win another league championship before he said he had retired.

This script doesn't even dare to shoot like this: where to start and where to end, cross the ocean in the middle, and finally make the story beautifully.

When many players retire, fans will sigh that "youth is over", but Belinelli is different. He is more like an old friend. He doesn't usually contact each other often, and suddenly sends a message saying "I'm leaving", and you realize that he has been there all the time.

I flipped through his social media today. The comment section was full of "Grazie Marco" written by fans from all over the country in different languages. The Spurs also posted a photo of him holding the cup with Duncan and Ginobili, with only one sentence in the caption: "You will always be a champion."

I suddenly remembered that on the day of the 2014 finals, he was holding champagne in the locker room. The reporter asked, "What does it feel like to win the championship?"

He held it in a long time and said in English with a strong accent: "I feel like...I can fly." At that moment, he smiled like a child, and the calmness he said when he said goodbye today was completely two people.

We will never see the guy with a crooked shot on the court again, but basketball will not forget him.

Those buzzer-beating three-pointers, those key balls, and those perfections after wandering will be left by time, like a bullet, forever nailed in the memories of fans.

Goodbye, Italian cannon; Goodbye, Marco Belinelli. I hope that your days after retirement will be able to fly freely like you did after you scored the final shot.