Achille Polonara said stop: sudden decision, the champion explains why

Achille Polonara has made up his mind: his career as a professional basketball player comes to an end here, at the end of an entire year in which he could not get on the parquet floor (he was under contract with Dinamo Sassari, after his farewell to Virtus Bologna), finding himself struggling with a different kind of opponent, the long illness that debilitated him, wounded his spirit several times, but never bent him.

The message that appeared Monday night on social media seemed like a bolt from the blue, after days spent training in Avellino, in the facility provided by Unicusano Basket. “Thanks to coach, thanks to teammates, to the medical staffs of every team I’ve been on for making me feel like a good player but most of all a man … Thanks also to those who insulted me on social media and in the arenas, you have been my strength.”

“I wish this moment would never come. I’ve been trying, resuming individual workouts but I realize it’s time to call it quits on playing basketball because I won’t be the player I used to be and I want you to remember me for who I was! I will miss you ball to ball,” concluded Polonara, who leaves basketball after seventeen seasons between Serie A, Spanish Liga ACB and Turkish Süper Lig.