The road for Danilo Gallinari has been an interesting one. From leaving his native Italy to play in the NBA, to being traded from the Big Apple to Denver in a deal that sent probable Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony to NYC, to suffering injury after injury, Gallo has been through a lot.
But now, things are looking up.
“This was the first summer that I’ve been able to rest,” Gallinari said at Nuggets media day on Monday. “I had a lot of time to rest and work on my body. I’m well rested and ready to go. Summer was too quick.”
Gallo had so much down time on his hands because he wasn’t rehabbing an injury, and the Italian National team didn’t qualify for the Rio Olympics. This was good for Gallo, as he’s in peak condition heading into the season.
And they’ll need him to remain that way. A healthy Gallo means a successful team, and the Nuggets have the postseason on their mind.
“I think we’re close,” Gallinari said of their playoff chances. “The most important thing is that we need to stay healthy. If you think about it, we’ve never played together in the last three years. We’ve never played together, not even one game, I think. Finally, we have all the guys back. Everybody’s healthy and as long as we can stay healthy. I think it’s not going to be a problem to get back to the postseason.”
It’s been three seasons since the Denver Nuggets last made the playoffs, but there’s no doubt that last year was different. Behind head coach Michael Malone, the Nuggets took major leaps forward in 2015, especially in the locker room.
“I think that the coaching staff has been doing a great job since they came on last year,” Gallinari said. “I think they’re teaching the right things and bringing the right tools. So, I think as far as culture, we are headed in the right direction.”
As I wrote in a piece earlier in the month, as long as winning is on the horizon, Gallo will not be leaving Denver, and he furthered stamped that seal at media day.
“There were a lot of chances in these past six years to get traded and change teams,” Gallo said. “I always told the front office to not do that because I wanted to stay here, win here and bring something special to Denver.”
Bottom line is, for whatever reason, Gallo loves the Mile High City, so much so that he has turned down trade offers to play for better, contending team’s.
Like him or hate him, Danilo Gallinari wants to win, and he wants to do it here, something that isn’t very common in the NBA. This season is lining up to be a great one from Gallo who is healthy and hungry to help put this team over the top.
