NBA. What happened to Simone Fontecchio?

After the early December challenge between the Jazz and the Warriors, decided by a dunk of Simon Fontecchio in the finale, we all thought his adventure in Salt Lake City had reached a turning point. Not just for the game winner close to the siren, but also for the impact (18 points, the most so far in the NBA) he had in the victory.

Even after that performance, though, the space granted by coach Hardy to Fontecchio was again limited to a few minutes here and there, with most of the matches experienced as a spectator: a constant, unfortunately, of his first months in the NBA. But why is the star of the Italian national team, after a phenomenal EuroBasket and several years at a high level in Europe, struggling so much to find space overseas?

In our part, many make it a question of prejudice towards European athletes, but it is a theory – yes, permeated with preconceptions – which has no right of citizenship in the 2023 NBA. There are other reasons to explain Fontecchio’s uphill start in the league, from which arise just as many good reasons to hope that the turning point, sooner or later, will really come.

The NBA, as they say, is a league of opportunities: many or few, you will get some and you have to take advantage of it to show off. The chances granted to Fontecchio for now have not been many, but such a first half of the Regular Season was quite predictable, considering his absence in the Summer League and for a good part of the Preseason, due to the summer commitment with the national team.

Then, bad luck also set in: a week of absence due to Covid, an ankle sprain and a flu undermined his continuity, further downgrading him in the hierarchies.

However, as seen on the field, the former Baskonia and Alba Berlin forward confirmed the qualities we know – perimeter danger, tonnage, versatility – albeit in a marginal role compared to the habits of the past. Quality that has been shown to be ready to express since day zero. However, playing for a team like Utah, projected more towards the future than the present (despite a year so far beyond expectations), has implications for our Simone. For example, coach Hardy recently preferred to give minutes to Ochai Agbaji, a 22-year-old in whom the franchise made an important investment in the last Draft, rather than Fontecchio, who turned 27 in December. The blue is more or less a finished product, it has little room for growth and therefore, inevitably, represents a less interesting project for the Jazz.

In any case, there will be other opportunities, which will hopefully generate further ones. Especially if in the last month of the market some elements of the rosters was sold (without excluding that it happens to Fontecchio), or if the team moves away from the playoff area. Meanwhile, Simone’s approach is the right one. “I’m just trying to get ready,” he said after the career-high against Golden State. “And in the meantime, I enjoy every single moment.”