Rumors

Ettore Messina: “The Euroleague is a show on the court, but it is no longer sustainable. In this diatribe with Fiba, a third player like the NBA can insert itself, which has everything to put European basketball back on its feet and reconcile it with world basketball.”

Sportando

Jay Huff almost went a different direction this year. He was in talks with the Euro League club Olimpia Milano. His free agency decision was between that and Memphis. “We were pretty close (with Olimpia Milano),” he said. “We talked to them. Really liked them. Still do. Their head coach is awesome. Ettore Messina, he’s the man. So we were close. Living in Milan would have been fun. And I know plenty of guys that have gone overseas that should be in the NBA right now. It’s all about fit and opportunity.”

Denver Post

Ettore Messina, who coached him in his first year at CSKA Moscow and from 2020 to 2024 in Milan, thanked Kyle Hines. “Thank YOU Sir! It’s been special to share these years together ❤️”, he said. Kevin Punter, who reached the 2021 EuroLeague Final Four with him, joined the list. “Appreciated being your teammate and brother!! 🙏🏾 enjoy bro!”, he said. Zach LeDay, who rejoined Milan this season, followed. “MORE THAN GRATEFUL TO HAVE SHARED MY JOURNEY WITH YOU G”, he said.

EuroHoops.net

“He’s an outlier, you know?” says Patrick Engelbrecht, the Raptors’ director of global scouting and international affairs, whose job is to have a pulse on the sport outside of the NBA. “Before, if [teams] talked about hiring an NBA coach from Europe, it was a prestigious name, like an Ettore Messina, Sergio Scariolo — guys that have won championships, guys that have coached at the highest level, won EuroLeague, won internationally. Darko’s an outlier in that he came to the United States as a young coach, coached in the G League, then was an assistant for a long time and then got an opportunity. Everyone wants him to do well because if he can prove that he can coach in this opportunity, they feel like it can really change the pool of talent where the NBA looks for its coaches. But they were a little surprised.”

SportsNet

Harrison Wind: Nuggets assistant GM Tommy Balcetis says when Denver does bring Ismael Kamagate over from Europe, they want him to be ready to be their backup center immediately. That's a year or two away from potentially happening: "Him playing in Euroleague, playing for a great coach in Ettorre Messina, Milano is such a high-level team. He's going to go there, he's going to be at Ettore Messina University."

Twitter

League sources say that Scariolo was scheduled to visit Toronto as early as Monday for his second summit with Raptors officials. Stay tuned to see if that meeting goes ahead or if it has to be conducted remotely with Scariolo’s Bologna team due to begin its Italian League best-of-seven championship series Friday against Ettore Messina-coached Olimpia Milano. Masai Ujiri and top aide Bobby Webster already visited Scariolo in Italy early in their search on top of the three seasons the trio has already worked together when Scariolo was an assistant on Nick Nurse's staff.

marcstein.substack.com

Tom Orsborn: In talking about how coaches learn from each other, Pop said he picked up some things from a former assistant this summer: "I went to Ettore Messina’s training camp in Milan and came back w/ some things I hadn’t thought about before. We all do that if you want to keep moving on."

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Emiliano Carchia: Ettore Messina will be in Springfield to attend Manu Ginobili's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Ginobili's request

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Olimpia Milan has already started their training camp for the upcoming season, despite missing their members who are currently playing for their national team. However, they had a distinguished visitor in Gregg Popovich. The San Antonio Spurs coach, Olympic gold medalist, and five-time NBA champion visited his old assistant Ettore Messina, who worked with him for five years in San Antonio. Alongside Popovich, James Borrego, head coach at Charlotte for the past four seasons and himself a former Spurs staff member, visited the practice, as both he and Popovich are guests of coach Messina.

EuroHoops.net

BasketNews: According to Ettore Messina, Olimpia are confident in bringing Kevin Pangos ✊ pic.twitter.com/qzduHwzLuE

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BasketNews: LaMarcus Aldridge would be down to reunite with his former coach Ettore Messina at Olimpia Milano

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Olimpia Milano has made a great run this season in the EuroLeague, reaching the Final Four after a long hiatus and although the team fell in the semis to Barcelona in the final seconds, coach Ettore Messina keeps his eyes on the long-term project. The coach and his colleagues have had one addition in mind for a while and it seems as though the upcoming summer might be the one when a deal comes to fruition. According to Corriere della Sera, Messina would like to bring Nicolo Melli back to Europe and Italy. Milano is working on convincing Melli whose contract with the Dallas Mavericks expires later this summer.

EuroHoops.net

Does Ettore Messina feels vindicated for returning to Europe from the NBA, where he spent five seasons as an assistant in the San Antonio Spurs under coach Gregg Popovich. The answer was given again with a big smile: “No, I wasn’t looking for any kind of revenge. I just wanted to have one more time my own team, before finishing my career. That was it. I have found it and I am very happy”.

EuroHoops.net

The Federation asked of Sachetti to change his assistants and, while reluctant, he had to oblige. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Federation wants Ettore Messina as the next coach and the sides have a verbal agreement with the coach being able to refuse the position if his obligations in Olimpia Milano end up being too much to balance with.

EuroHoops.net