Garrison Mathews has yet to arrive in Italy due to bureaucratic issues and Olimpia Milano has not officially announced his signing, but the American wing is preparing for the first European experience of his career.
Speaking to local media in Franklin, Mathews discussed his decision to accept Milano’s offer, admitting that playing overseas was never something he had originally envisioned for his career. However, after receiving significant offers from Europe, the opportunity became too attractive to turn down.
The 1996-born wing heads to Italy after seven seasons in the NBA. Mathews most recently appeared in 15 games for the Indiana Pacers after spending the previous three seasons in Atlanta.
Overall, he has played 329 NBA games, including 65 starts, averaging 6.4 points while shooting 38.2% from three-point range.
Three-point shooting has been the defining strength of Mathews’ NBA career. He has made 484 three-pointers, with one of his best seasons coming with the Houston Rockets in 2021-22. That year, he averaged 10.0 points over 65 appearances while playing more than 26 minutes per game.
The final stretch of his NBA career was more complicated. Mathews explained that things initially went well in Atlanta before he eventually fell out of the rotation over the final couple of months. After failing to secure another NBA contract, he even considered walking away from professional basketball.
Returning home to the Nashville area gave him the opportunity to spend time with family and friends and think about his future. Over the following months, however, Mathews began to miss the game and eventually rediscovered his desire to continue playing.
In Milan, he will also reunite with Darius Thompson, whom he remembers from their high school days. Mathews jokingly recalled Thompson getting the better of him back then and said he is looking forward to finally playing alongside him and the rest of his new teammates.
While his immediate focus will be on performing well with Olimpia, Mathews has made no secret of his desire to potentially return to the NBA in the future. For now, however, he intends to make the most of his first season in European basketball.
Mathews has signed a one-plus-one-year contract with Olimpia Milano.
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