Pierluigi Marzorati


Pierluigi "Pierlo" Marzorati is an Italian former professional basketball player.
Marzorati is considered one of the best point guards of all time in Europe, and was named the 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

Marzorati was one of the key players of the Cantù team, winning 2 Italian League championships, 2 FIBA European Champions' Cup titles, 4 FIBA Cup Winners' Cups, 4 FIBA Korać Cups and 2 FIBA Intercontinental Cups.
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 game for Cantù, playing two minutes in an Italian League game, against the Italian national league 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.

National team career

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 at the EuroBasket 1983, plus three bronze medals at the 1971, 1975, and 1985 EuroBaskets.

Post playing career

Marzorati played his whole career with Cantù. He also became a vice-president for the club, and served in that capacity until 1996.