Pierluigi Marzorati (born September 12, 1952 in Figino Serenza, Italy) is an Italian former professional basketball player.
He is considered one of the best points guards of all time in Europe, and was named the European Player of the Year, Mister Europa, in 1976. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2007, he was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame, and he was also enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.
Club playing career
He was one of the key players of the Cantù team (in which he played from 1969 to 1991), winning 2 Italian Championships (in 1975, and 1981), 2 European Champions' Cup (Euroleague) titles (1982 and 1983), 4 Korać Cups (1973, 1974, 1975, and 1991), 2 Intercontinental Cups (1975 and 1982), and 4 Cup Winners' Cups (1977, 1978, 1979, and 1981).
In July 2006, Marzorati decided to come back at age 54, to top class competitions with Cantù, for the 70th anniversary of the team. On October 6, 2006, he finally appeared in an official match for Cantù, playing two minutes in a Lega Basket Serie A game, against the Italian national champions Benetton Treviso. Cantù won 70-69. This way, he became the first basketball player in history, to have played official games in five different decades, as well as the oldest professional basketball player to have ever taken part in an official game.
Italian national team
Marzorati played in 278 games for the Italian national basketball team, scoring 2,209 points. He won the silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the gold medal in the EuroBasket 1983, plus three bronze medals at the 1971, 1975, and 1985 EuroBaskets.
Post playing career
He first announced his retirement from his playing career in 1991, after having played his whole career with Cantù. After that, he became a vice-president for the club, and served in that capacity until 1996.
External links
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) |
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| | FIBA Americas | |
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35 Players
10 Coaches
5 Referees
- Artenik Aradabjian
- Mikhail Davidov
- Lubomir Kotleba
- Yvan Mainini
- Costas Rigas
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| Persondata |
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| Name |
Marzorati, Pierluigi |
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| Short description |
Professional basketball player |
| Date of birth |
September 12, 1952 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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Italy (partial support)
Italy
Dražen Dalipagić