Former San Antonio Spurs guard and NBA champion Marco Belinelli has retired from basketball, he announced Monday.
Belinelli, 39, last played in the NBA for the Spurs during the 2019-20 season. He spent the last five seasons playing in his native Italy for Virtus Bologna, where he began his professional basketball career in 2001-02.
“I gave it my heart. Every piece of me. Every single day. Basketball gave me everything … and I gave it everything I had,” Belinelli wrote in an Instagram post. “Saying goodbye isn’t easy. But it’s time. I carry with me every emotion, every sacrifice, every cheer. Thank you to those who always believed. To the next generation—I leave a dream. Make it count.”
Belinelli, a 13-year NBA veteran, was drafted 18th overall by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft. The sharpshooting guard played for eight different franchises in his 13 NBA seasons, but his most notable impact came during his first stint in San Antonio when the Spurs won the NBA championship in 2014.
In addition to the Warriors and Spurs, Belinelli also played for the Toronto Raptors, then-New Orleans Hornets, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers.
Belinelli retires with NBA career averages of 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 42.4% shooting, including 37.6% on threes, in 860 games, including 219 starts.
More recently, Belinelli was named the Lega Basket Serie A MVP in 2024 and the Sixth Man of the Year in 2022, according to NBC Sports. He also helped lead Virtus Bologna to winning two Serie A titles in 2021 and 2025.
“Belinelli has had a remarkable career, and he has no doubt inspired a generation of young players in his homeland by becoming the first Italian player to win an NBA championship,” said David Campbell, sports manager for cleveland.com / The Plain Dealer.
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