Seven Olimpia players belonging to the Armani era of the club have been inducted today in the club’s Hall of Fame, joining 37 more personalities preceding them chronologically. Their identities were unveiled tonight through a video shown to the crowd at halftime of the Olimpia-Olympiacos game.
Mason Rocca 2008-2012 – Captain Mason Rocca was the symbol of Olimpia during the first four years of the Armani era when the team did not win but built the foundations needed for its future success. Rocca made the Italian championship series three times over four seasons, played in the EuroLeague Top 16 twice and conquered the fans with his game made of generosity, aggressiveness, intelligence, courage. Rocca captured 348 offensive rebounds and 792 total rebounds over 164 league games. But beyond the numbers he interpreted the Olimpia spirit flawlessly. For this reason, even if he didn’t win, getting only close so many times, Rocca has a special role among the greats in the history of Olimpia, he was the first “great” of the Armani era.
Keith Langford 2012-2014 – He came to Milan in the summer of 2012 and remained for two seasons. During the second one, he was the EuroLeague leading scorer playing for the team that reached the playoffs and was eliminated only by the eventual European champions Maccabi. Langford was also named to the All-EuroLeague first team (Olimpia won seven consecutive games in the Top 16, a team-record). Keith was also the best team scorer in the Italian league leading Olimpia to 21 consecutive wins between the regular season and the playoffs. Langford was decisive in leading the team to the first championship of the Armani era. He was a shooting guard with a prodigious one-on-one, that included a dramatic speed shift and, over time, developed his outside shooting to the point that he became one of the most effective shooters in Europe. Left-handed, he scored at least twenty points 12 times in EuroLeague games with Olimpia. In the 2012/13 season he scored 439 points in 25 appearances. He averages 16.5 points per game for Olimpia in the EuroLeague.
Curtis Jerrells 2013-2019 – Curtis Jerrells arrived in Milan in the summer of 2013. He had a difficult start to the season but eventually thrived. Defense, physicality and three-point shooting were his best weapons. But above all Jerrells demonstrated great toughness. He was a player supremely confident. He would prove it emphatically in Game 6 of the championship series in Siena when he refused to pass the ball during the last possession to take the winning shot at the buzzer saving Olimpia’s season. It became famous at “The Shot”. Two nights later in Game 7 in the fourth quarter he scored the tying three to complete a stunning comeback from eight points behind. Leaving Milan in 2014, he returned three years later. Again, in the championship series, against Trento in 2018 in Game 5 he made the two free throws that gave Olimpia the lead for good (Goudelock protected it with his famous “Block”). For Olimpia, he played 82 EuroLeague and 108 Italian league games.
Kruno Simon 2015-2017 – A multifunctional player, Kruno Simon arrived in Milan coming from Lokomotiv Kuban during the summer of 2015, badly wanted by Coach Jasmin Repesa, his compatriot, intrigued by the idea of adding to the team a wing capable of handling the ball, shooting, being offensive creative. Despite two years partially affected by injuries (in the 2017 playoffs he had to give up after Game 2 of the semifinal loss against Trento), Simon won one Italian championship, two Italian Cups and a Super Cup in two years with Olimpia. He was named MVP of the Super Cup triumph in 2016 in Milan (he scored 25 points in the championship game against Avellino), but he was also decisive in the championship won a few months earlier. His was the Game 6 winning shot in Reggio Emilia from the low post, the picture of his versatility. In the 2016 playoffs, he averaged 12.8 points per game on 42.8 percent three-point shooting. In two seasons he had 75 appearances in Italy with 1,014 points scored, and 31 EuroLeague appearances with 331 points scored.
Rakim Sanders 2015-2017 – After a arm a surgery following his brea-out season in Sassari, Sanders came to Milan and, in a couple of weeks, was the MVP of the Italian Cup that Olimpia won in Milan by beating Avellino in the championship game. The following June he was MVP of the championship series, won 4-2 against Reggio Emilia (he had 83 points in six games). Then he helped the team win the Super Cup (again against Avellino) and the Italian Cup in Rimini where he was crucial in the toughest game against Reggio Emilia in the semifinals. Sanders had arrived in Italy to play as a big guard and as a small forward, but during his experience in Milan he was also used a lot as a small-ball power forward despite being 1.96 mt tall. Even if his stay did not last long (54 Italian league games overall, 583 points scored, 98 points scored in six Italian Cup games, all victories) his experience in Milan was both successful and highly productive.
Vlado Micov 2017-2021 – When he signed for Olimpia, Vlado Micov was considered a declining player. Instead, he was able to spend four seasons of the highest-level earning in the process the nickname of Professor for his intelligence, understanding of the game and also the charisma. In Milan, Micov played in 115 EuroLeague games (80 more in the Italian league) and by the time he left he had become the competition’s club leading scorer in the modern era (1,232 points), second only to Bob McAdoo in the all-time list. In all, he won three Super Cups in Milan, one of which as MVP (in Brescia in 2018, 17 points in the decisive game), one Italian championship in 2018 as a key player and an Italian Cup as well as being in the Final Four in 2021. Micov also went down in history for the many winning baskets scored for Olimpia. In the 2019/20 season he made three of them, two in the league (against Cremona and in Venice) and one in Valencia in the EuroLeague.
Gigi Datome 2020-2023 – When he arrived in Milan, he had a very successful career behind him as well as being almost 33 years of age. And yet, despite several absences due to various injuries, over three seasons he won two league titles, two Italian Cups and one Super Cup. He was the MVP of the 2021 Italian Cup (15 points in 16 minutes in the championship game against Pesaro) and of the 2023 Italian league finals, his memorable farewell game to club basketball. In three years, Datome has been appreciated for his charisma, style, personality, for his deadly shooting but above all he has demonstrated an uncanny ability to emerge as a clutch player. He was instrumental in winning the 2022 Italian Cup (12 timely points in 22 minutes in the tough semi-final against Brescia) and so in the same season championship series in which he scored 23 points in the clinching Game 6 (in the 2022 playoffs he scored 122 points and went 21-for-22 from the line; in the 2023 playoffs, he was 19-for-21 from the line and had a 47.9 percent three-point shooting). With him aboard Olimpia regained access to the EuroLeague Final Four, in 2021. In all, in the Italian league he had 93 appearances for Olimpia, and he made 44.8 percent of his threes and 92.2 percent of his free-throws.
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