Olimpia Milano

Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes called "Scarpette Rosse" (Little Red Shoes) because team officials brought red Converse All-Star shoes for players from the United States. This nickname has stuck and is still used by many fans today.

Because of sponsorship changes, the team's name has changed often over the years. From 1930 until 1955, it was called Borletti Milano. From 1956 to 1973, it was renamed Simmenthal. Other famous sponsorship names included Billy, Simac, Tracer, and Philips in the 1980s.

Olimpia Milano is the most successful basketball club in Italy and one of the most successful in Europe. The team has won 31 Italian League Championships, 8 Italian National Cups, 5 Italian Super Cups, 3 EuroLeague titles, 1 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, 3 FIBA Saporta Cups, and 2 FIBA Korać Cups, along with many junior titles.

In 2016, the club was honored by being included in the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame.

History

The team Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano was created in 1930, but it is best known for winning its first Italian League Championship in 1936. During its early years, the team won four championships in a row from 1936 to 1939.

In the years that followed, the team continued to win many championships. In the 1980s, the team won several big titles, including the Italian League Championship, the Italian Cup, and a European championship. This achievement is called the "Triple Crown."

In more recent years, the team has seen changes in leadership but kept growing. In 2018, Olimpia Milano won its 28th Italian League title. The team also made it to the Euroleague Final Four in 2021, a big event after many years.

Logos

The team has different logos depending on whether a sponsor is shown or not.

There is a logo used when there is no sponsor, a logo from when Emporio Armani was the sponsor, and an older logo from before that time.

Arenas

Secondary Arenas

Olimpia Milano played for almost 20 years on the OND Borletti outdoor court in Via Costanza. In the mid-1940s, they moved to the Palazzo dello Sport della Fiera, which could hold 18,000 people and was the largest indoor sports arena in Europe at the time, second only to Madison Square Garden in New York City. In 1960, they moved to the PalaLido, which had a smaller capacity but was often filled with many fans.

In the late 1970s, the team moved to the new Palasport di San Siro, a big multi-purpose facility next to Meazza Stadium that could hold about 15,000 spectators. In 1985, the roof of the Palasport di San Siro collapsed, so they went back to PalaLido for a season. In 1986, they moved to the new PalaTrussardi, where they played through the early 1990s.

Today, the team's home arena is the Mediolanum Forum, which can seat 12,700 people. Sometimes, they also play home games at the PalaDesio, which holds about 6,700 people. Recently, they thought about moving back to the newly remodeled PalaLido, now called Allianz Cloud, but decided to stay at the Mediolanum Forum because it has more seating. The Allianz Cloud is used when the Mediolanum Forum is not available.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Olimpia Milano has won many important basketball competitions in Italy. They have won the Italian League 31 times, which is the top basketball league in the country. They have also won the Italian Cup 9 times and the Italian Supercup 6 times.

European competitions

In Europe, Olimpia Milano has achieved great success too. They have won the EuroLeague, the most important European basketball competition, 3 times. They have also won the FIBA Saporta Cup 3 times, the FIBA Korać Cup 2 times, and the Latin Cup once.

Worldwide competitions

Olimpia Milano has also competed worldwide. They won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup once, which is a competition between the best teams from Europe and the Americas.

Unofficial

The team has also won some unofficial competitions, like the Triple Crown and the Small Triple Crown.

Other Competitions

Olimpia Milano has won many other invitational games and tournaments in different cities, showing their skill and teamwork in many places around the world.

Players

See also: Category:Olimpia Milano players

Current roster

Note: Flags show which country's team a player can join in games organized by FIBA. Players might also have other nationalities that are not listed here.

Depth chart

(colors: Italian or homegrown players; foreign players; young players)

Retired numbers

Season by season

Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions

Main article: Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano in European and worldwide competitions

Matches against NBA teams

Sponsorship names

Over the years, this team has had many different names because of sponsorship deals. Some of the names include Borletti, Simmenthal, Innocenti, Cinzano, Billy, Simac, Tracer, Philips, Recoaro, Stefanel, Sony, Adecco, Pippo, Breil, Armani Jeans, EA7 Emporio Armani, AX Armani Exchange, and back to EA7 Emporio Armani again.

Notable players

Here are some famous players who have played for Olimpia Milano:

• Cesare Rubini (1948–1957)
• Sergio Stefanini (1949–1955)
• Enrico Pagani (1949–1960)
• Romeo Romanutti (1950–1958)
• Sandro Gamba (1950–1963)
• Gianfranco Pieri (1955–1968)
• Sandro Riminucci (1956–1970)
• Paolo Vittori (1959–1965)
• Gabriele Vianello (1962–1967)
• Massimo Masini (1963–1974)
• Giulio Iellini (1964–1975)
• Vittorio Ferracini (1967–1969, 1973–1983)
• Giuseppe Brumatti (1967–1977)
• Renzo Bariviera (1969–1975)
• Vittorio Gallinari (1976–1987)
• Dino Meneghin (1980–1990, 1993–1994)
• Roberto Premier (1981–1989)
• Riccardo Pittis (1984–1993)
• Antonello Riva (1989–1994)
• Ferdinando Gentile (1994–1998)
• Marco Mordente (1996–2000, 2008–2011)
• Massimo Bulleri (2005–2008, 2008–2009, 2009–2010)
• Danilo Gallinari (2006–2008; 2011)
• Stefano Mancinelli (2009–2012)
• Nicolò Melli (2010–2015, 2021–2024)
• Alessandro Gentile (2011–2016)
• Simone Fontecchio (2016–2019)
• Amedeo Della Valle (2018–2020)
• Luigi Datome (2020–2023)

Other notable players include:

• Skip Thoren (1965–1966)
• Bill Bradley (1965–1966)
• Art Kenney (1970–1973)
• Mike Sylvester (1975–1980)
• Mike D'Antoni (1977–1990)
• Joe Barry Carroll (1984–1985)
• Russ Schoene (1984–1986)
• Ken Barlow (1986–1987)
• Bob McAdoo (1986–1990)
• Ricky Brown (1987–1988)
• Darryl Dawkins (1991–1992)
• Antonio Davis (1992–1993)
• Aleksandar Đorđević (1992–1994, 2005)
• Hugo Sconochini (1993–1995, 2002–2004)
• Dejan Bodiroga (1994–1996)
• Gregor Fučka (1994–1997)
• Rolando Blackman (1995–1996)
• Giorgos Sigalas (1997–1998)
• Melvin Booker (1998–1999, 2007–2008)
• Mindaugas Katelynas (2007–2009)
• David Hawkins (2008–2009, 2010–2011)
• Richard Mason Rocca (2008–2012)
• Jonas Mačiulis (2009–2011)
• Marijonas Petravičius (2009–2011)
• Ioannis Bourousis (2011–2013)
• Malik Hairston (2011–2013)
• Keith Langford (2012–2014)
• Curtis Jerrells (2013–2014; 2017–2019)
• Samardo Samuels (2013–2015)
• Milan Mačvan (2015–2017)
• Krunoslav Simon (2015–2017)
• Rakim Sanders (2016–2017)
• Mantas Kalnietis (2016–2018)
• Drew Goudelock (2017–2018)
• Dairis Bertāns (2017–2019)
• Artūras Gudaitis (2017–2020)
• Vladimir Micov (2017–2021)
• Mike James (2018–2019)
• Mindaugas Kuzminskas (2018–2019)
• Nemanja Nedović (2018–2020)
• Jeff Brooks (2018–2021)
• Luis Scola (2019–2020)
• Sergio Rodriguez (2019–2022)
• Zach LeDay (2020–2021, 2024–present)
• Malcolm Delaney (2020–2022)
• Kyle Hines (2020–present)
• Shavon Shields (2020–present)
• Ben Bentil (2021–2022)
• Devon Hall (2021–2024)
• Billy Baron (2022–2024)
• Brandon Davies (2022–2023)
• Kevin Pangos (2022–2023)
• Johannes Voigtmann (2022–2024)
• Nikola Mirotić (2023–2025)