_by_Sandro_Halank%25E2%2580%2593122.jpg) Messina in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Olimpia Milano | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | President of basketball operations | ||||||||||||||||||||
| League | LBA EuroLeague | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1959-09-30)30 September 1959 (age 66) Catania, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1976–present | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1980 | Reyer Venezia (youth) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1982 | Basket Mestre (youth) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1983 | A.P.U. Udine (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1989 | Virtus Bologna (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1993 | Virtus Bologna | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1997 | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Virtus Bologna | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Benetton Treviso | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2009 | CSKA Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Los Angeles Lakers (consultant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | CSKA Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2019 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2025 | Olimpia Milano | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||
As head coach:
As assistant coach:
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| FIBA Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Ettore Messina (born 30 September 1959) is an Italian professionalbasketball executive and former coach who last coachedOlimpia Milano of the ItalianLega Basket Serie A (LBA). He has won fourEuroLeague championships as ahead coach. Messina is regarded as one of the best European basketball coaches of all time, having been named one of the50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008.
He was named theItalian League's Best Coach three times, in the years 1998, 2001, and 2005. Furthermore, he has been namedEuroLeague'sCoach of the Year twice, in 2006 and 2008. He was inducted into theItalian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the RussianVTB United League Hall of Fame, in 2019. Messina also previously worked with theSan Antonio Spurs, as an assistant coach forGregg Popovich, from 2014 to 2019.
Messina had two different stints (1989–1993 and 1997–2002) as thehead coach at theItalian League team,Virtus Bologna. In the 1989–90 season, he won theItalian Cup and also the second-tier level European-wide league, theFIBA Cup Winners' Cup, againstReal Madrid, inFlorence. He also won theItalian League national championship in 1993. During his second stint at Virtus, he coached the team to win thefirst-tier level European-wideEuroLeague championship, in both1997–98 and2000–01. He also added twoItalian League championships to his trophy case in 1998 and 2001, as well as threeItalian Cup titles in 1999, 2001, and 2002.
Messina then served as the head coach of the Italian League clubBenetton Treviso, where he succeededMike D'Antoni as head coach, in 2002. He stayed there for 3 seasons. With Treviso, he won theItalian League championship in 2003, and also theItalian Cup title thrice, adding them to a total streak of 5 consecutive titles, with two different clubs.
Messina then joined the Russian clubCSKA Moscow in 2005, and led the team to the EuroLeague's2005–06 title, and the covetedTriple Crown, in his first season there. On 4 May 2008, CSKA won the EuroLeague championship again under Messina - the club gained its sixth EuroLeague title by downingMaccabi Tel Aviv at the2007–08 Madrid edition of theEuroLeague Final Four. He resigned from CSKA immediately after leading them to aRussian Championship and theEuroLeague Final, during the2008–09 season. He was offered a position as the technical director at CSKA, but at the time of his resignation, he had not decided whether or not he wanted to stay with the club.[1]
Messina was announced as the new head coach of theSpanish League clubReal Madrid, on 18 June 2009,[2] and signed his contract with the club the following day. After Real Madrid had several poor performances, Messina resigned from the club's head coach position, in March 2011.[3]
Messina was frequently the subject of speculation linking him with vacant coaching jobs in theNBA. For example, he was one of the many coaches in the discussion for theSacramento Kings head coaching role, and it was also rumored that he would join theToronto Raptors andSan Antonio Spurs coaching staffs. Messina eventually agreed to join theLos Angeles Lakers, as part of head coachMike Brown's coaching staff, as a full-time consultant to the head coach, for the 2011–12 season.[4]
In June 2012, Messina decided to leave his job as a consultant for theLos Angeles Lakers, and he returned toCSKA Moscow, to become the team's head coach.[5] In June 2014, he parted ways with CSKA Moscow.[6]
On 15 July 2014, Messina was hired by theSan Antonio Spurs, as an assistant coach.[7] On 16 October 2014, Messina would coach the Spurs in a 121–90 preseason win against thePhoenix Suns, due toGregg Popovich being unable to travel with the team at the time.[8]
Messina would later take on the role of the World Team's head coach in the2016 NBARising Stars Challenge. On 7–8 March 2016, Messina again served as head coach of the Spurs, for two games, due toGregg Popovich leaving the team for a family emergency.[9] On 19 April 2018, Messina temporarily took over head coaching duties of the team in their playoff series versus theGolden State Warriors, due to Popovich having left the team in light of his wife's death the previous night.[10]
On 11 June 2019, Messina signed a three-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach and President of Basketball Operations of the Italian clubOlimpia Milano.[11][12]
From 1993 to 1997 Messina was the head coach of the senior men'sItalian national basketball team. He coached Italy at the1993 EuroBasket and the1995 EuroBasket, and he also led Italy to the silver medal at the1997 EuroBasket.
In 2016, Messina took a short leave of absence from the San Antonio Spurs, in order to return as the head coach of theAzzurri, with the goal of qualifying for the2016 Rio Summer Olympic Game. Messina coached Italy at the2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. At the qualification tournament, Italy lost toCroatia, and thus failed to qualify to the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also coached Italy at the2017 EuroBasket.
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | ||
Note: TheEuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtus Bologna | 1991–92 | 19 | 13 | 6 | .684 | Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs |
| 1992–93 | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs | |
| 1997–98 | 22 | 19 | 3 | .864 | WonEuroLeague Championship | |
| 1998–99 | 23 | 15 | 8 | .652 | Lost inEuroLeague Finals | |
| 2000–01 | 23 | 20 | 3 | .870 | WonEuroLeague Championship | |
| 2001–02 | 22 | 17 | 5 | .773 | Lost inEuroLeague Finals | |
| Treviso | 2002–03 | 22 | 18 | 4 | .818 | Lost inEuroLeague Finals |
| 2003–04 | 20 | 14 | 6 | .700 | Eliminated at Top 16 Stage | |
| 2004–05 | 22 | 12 | 10 | .545 | Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs | |
| CSKA Moscow | ||||||
| 2005–06 | 24 | 19 | 5 | .792 | WonEuroLeague Championship | |
| 2006–07 | 25 | 22 | 3 | .880 | Lost inEuroLeague Finals | |
| 2007–08 | 25 | 20 | 5 | .800 | WonEuroleague Championship | |
| 2008–09 | 21 | 16 | 5 | .762 | Lost inEuroLeague Finals | |
| Real Madrid | 2009–10 | 20 | 12 | 8 | .600 | Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs |
| 2010–11 | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | (resigned) | |
| CSKA Moscow | 2012–13 | 26 | 21 | 5 | .808 | Lost inEuroLeague Semifinals |
| 2013–14 | 31 | 22 | 9 | .710 | Lost inEuroLeague Semifinals | |
| AX Armani Exchange Milan | 2019-20 | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | Season was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic |
| 2020-21 | 41 | 25 | 16 | .610 | Lost inEuroLeague Semifinals | |
| 2021-22 | ||||||
| Career | 377 | 279 | 98 | .740 | ||
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBC CSKA Moscow | 2007–08 | 32 | 31 | 1 | .9688 | Won 2008Russian Super League 1 Finals |
| PBC CSKA Moscow | 2008–09 | 32 | 30 | 2 | .9375 | Won 2009Russian Super League 1 Finals |
| Real Madrid | 2009–10 | 42 | 31 | 11 | .7381 | Lost2010 Liga ACB Second Round |
| Real Madrid | 2010–11 | 40 | 29 | 11 | .7250 | Lost2011 Liga ACB Second Round |
| PBC CSKA Moscow | 2012–13 | 31 | 24 | 7 | .7742 | Won 2013 VTB United League Finals |
| PBC CSKA Moscow | 2013–14 | 29 | 24 | 5 | .8276 | Won 2014 VTB United League Finals |
| AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan | 2019–20 | 21 | 14 | 7 | .7500 | League cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic |
| AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan | 2020–21 | 38 | 28 | 10 | .7368 | Lost2021 Italian League Finals |
| Career | 265 | 213 | 52 | .8038 | ||
Links to related articles | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
