Carlos Delfino announces retirement from professional basketball | OneFootball

21 years after the historic gold medal won at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the activity of the Golden Generation has come to an end. Carlos Delfino, the only player from Rubén Magnano's team who was still active, announced his retirement from professional basketball, marking the end of one of the most successful teams in the history of Argentine sports.

The Lancha, who until last season was playing for Benedetto XIV Cento in Italy's Serie A2, announced that his 27-year professional career has come to an end. In a conversation with Doble Doble and with Julio Lamas present, the 43-year-old shooting guard said: "I'm doing very well, very happy. I'm not playing anymore. I didn't start the season, I'm not training, and I'm not running, which is already a lot. I'm watching a lot of basketball and there are moments I miss it, but I feel good physically and that is priceless. I won't play anymore."

Regarding the reasons for this decision, the former NBA player explained: "A few months ago, a moment came that I thought would never arrive, which was making excuses to go train and not wanting to go. It was a mix of things and I said 'the moment has come.' Honestly, I felt very good because I suffered many injuries, I suffered a lot physically, and at one point I stopped for almost four years. This time I said 'I'm fine, I'm whole, and I can choose.' I feel that it's over and I can leave peacefully."

And just minutes after this announcement, the former Boca and Unión de Santa Fe player also detailed his future desire and confessed: "I'm looking into the possibility of becoming a coach."

Delfino's Career

The shooting guard took his first steps in professional basketball with Libertad de Sunchales, a team with which he played some games in the National League. After this brief stint with the Santa Fe team, the perimeter player went on to wear the jersey of his beloved Unión de Santa Fe. Thanks to his great level at just 17 years old, the Lancha was able to make the leap to European basketball and joined Viola Reggio Calabria in Italy.

After four years in the Italian league, where he also played for Fortitudo Bologna, the Argentine was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 25th position of the NBA draft. It was there that his career took another significant leap: he made his long-awaited debut with the Argentine National Team - at the South American Championship in Campos, Brazil - and spent nine years showcasing all his skills in the world's most important league, where he played for the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, and Houston Rockets, the team with which he had his best season in 2012/2013.

But it was in that great year with the Texas team that the shooting guard suffered a severe injury that sidelined him for more than three years. In a playoff game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Delfino suffered a fracture of the scaphoid bone in his right foot, which required seven surgeries and forced him to leave the sport for 47 months.

After an extensive recovery, the player who already had the gold medal from the 2004 Olympic Games and the bronze from the 2008 Olympics with the Argentine National Team returned to the National League to play with Boca, where he played a few games. In the same 2017, the Lancha returned to Europe and signed with Saski Baskonia, then moved to Italy, where he would spend the last years of his career.

In that country, he played for Fiat Torino in Serie A (between 2018 and 2019), Fortitudo Bologna in Serie A2 (between 2019 and 2020), Victoria Libertas Pesaro (also in 2020), and Benedetto XIV Cento in Serie A2, the club where he finally decided to end his career in 2025.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.