Davide Alviti was not supposed to be here. Davide Alviti is not coming off a great youth system, he had to fight for everything. Davide Alviti had to leave home, the family friendly confines, to become a professional player. He had to change four teams in four years, moving from Mantova to Tortona, from Imola to Treviso to find his niche, while increasing his self-confidence. Even an Italian league spot had to be conquered the hard way, right on the court, by winning the A2 championship with Treviso. At 25, after two seasons in the top league, he is in Milano. Everything will be at the same time more beautiful and harder. “But nothing is easy in life, everything is difficult,” he says. Alviti is just another kid from Alatri, in the Frosinone province, 2.00 mt tall and a shooting stroke that’s going places. Basketball for him, is a family matter. His career is the byproduct of his dad sacrifices. He was the one driving every day from Alatri to Rome, eating a sandwich with his right hand and handling the wheel with the left. “My basketball obsession was born because of my dad. I was taller than the average kid and he insisted to make me try minibasket. To me, basketball was like any other sport, I was swimming at the time. Gradually, I fall in love with the game, it became my life.”

  • Let’s talk about that game, the game that changed your life.

“It was a Regional-level game, between NB Alatri and Eurobasket Rome. On the road. We lost like 100-14, but I scored all my team points. A week later, a Eurobasket scout came to Alatri and offered me to move to his team and continue there my journey. It was an easy answer, my family had my back, my father was behind me. He asked me if I felt like trying. I was 16, not fully aware of everything, I said yes.”

  • And so your life as a basketball commuter began.

“I wasn’t aware of the implications, but my dad was a very mature person, he and my family. It was a hard time because from Alatri to Rome is a one hour and 15, one hour and 20 drive with acceptable traffic conditions and we did it every day. My dad picked me up at school, bringing some sandwiches along, to be in Rome at 16.30. He drove and I ate. He stayed for practice, he loves to watch practices, more than watching games. It was his free time. Coming back, we ate more sandwiches, but he had to drive too.”

  • Olimpia is playing its home games at the Mediolanum Forum.

“And I made my debut at the Forum. On March 16, 2015, I was wearing the jersey number 17. One day later, my grandmother died, it was March 17. It is a day that I clearly remember. I went from the joy of my first Serie A game to complete desperation in one single night.”

  • Is it true that Gigi Datome is your role model?

“Like I said many times, I’m a Datome fan since the first time I saw him in Rome. He was playing for Virtus, he was the Italian league’s MVP that season. Me and my dad stayed in the gym just to watch him shooting. I was guessing how could be possible that he scored every time. My dad tried to explain the reason, pointing out how he broke the wrist, how he planted his legs on the floor. I was fascinated by him, I tried to understand what he was doing and how.”

  • During an interview, Datome publicly endorsed you. He said that he saw a little bit of himself in the way you play the game.

“I couldn’t believe it. My brother sent that interview to me. I stayed 10 seconds still, looking, trying to soak it in, trying to understand the meaning. It was exciting, he gave me a huge reason to keep pushing myself”.

  • Your basketball journey brought you everywhere.

“Every step along the way was useful, I believe that every step helped me to grow. A lot of people think that Mantova for example was a negative step, but it was my first year playing in A2, facing very good, experienced, players. Then Tortona, where Coach Demis Cavina trusted me and moved me to the 3-spot, and finally Imola when my confidence level was at the top. From there, Treviso, we moved up to Serie A, we won the Italian Cup, yes I was able to keep climbing.”

  • In Treviso, you conquered the Italian top league on the court.

“After the Imola season, what I was looking for was a team to be able to get to the Serie A together, not because I was called up after a good A2 season. That was what I asked my representatives. We did it, we won the Italian Cup and then the championship, and I stayed with Treviso.”

  • What about Trieste’s breakout season?

“I didn’t expect that kind of season in Trieste, but I really wanted it. I wanted to prove myself at that level, and I had worked hard to make it happen. I didn’t expect it was such a fast process, I thought it was going to be a gradual climb, but I worked hard and I’m still working hard. I didn’t expect it, but I wanted it to happen in the worst way.”

  • Even the National Team took notice.

“It was an explosion of feelings. I was out shopping for groceries, when my brother called me and broke me the National Team news. What do you mean? I read the long list, then we remained 16 players, finally I got to play. When I wore the jersey that feeling was unheard of, because you start to think of all the players who wore it before you, what they were able to accomplish, what they were able to win, it’s exciting, incredible.”

  • That happened because of your clutch shooting.

“Shooting is my trademark, but I’m working hard to expand my game, because when defenses are starting to get familiar with you, they find a way to deny what you do better, and you need to move to different things. So, I’m trying to add some skills, get them in my backpack to be used on the court on a short notice.”

  • All of a sudden, you are playing in Milan.

“I approach this Milano experience at peace with myself. When they contacted me for the first time, it was eye-opening, because this is the top Italian club and like was demonstrated during the last season one of the best in Europe. But I’m at peace, I know how hard it will be, but everything is hard to accomplish in life. I’ll face this challenge like all the others, sacrificing, using my determination. The payoff will come at the right time, what’s crucial is to put up the work and the dedication.”

  • You will play along a lot of legendary players.

“I will benefit since the moment I’ll step in here to the one I’ll get out at night, because I will be close all day long with generational players and high-level coaches. What I usually do is trying to get not just one thing off a player, but a little bit of everything from everybody, store it in my mind and bring it with me, in my backpack. Again, to be used on a short notice.”

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