Over five years in the Italian league, Shavon Shields has played in five championship series. Five consecutive finals are rare to find, five consecutive finals for a foreign player are extremely rare (Mike D’Antoni did it, but only the first three finals were played as a foreign player), five finals in the first five years took place only once before (Ksistof Lavrinovic in Siena). Shields did it with two different teams. And while he lost the first three trips, now the trend has been reversed. And counting the experience he had in Spain; Shields has played in six league finals over seven seasons and won three of the last four.

As was the case last year, Shields emerged from a difficult season just in time to get the best out of it. In 2021/22, a broken hand sustained mid-season had sidelined him for three months. But it had allowed him to return in time to play the final part of the EuroLeague season, obtain the second consecutive inclusion in the All-EuroLeague second team and play the playoffs of the two competitions. But this year’s injury came very soon, it was longer and more serious because, with his leg wrapped up in a brace for weeks, Shields was unable to maintain the athletic tone he kept during the previous injury. For this reason, getting back into shape has been more difficult.

Shavon Shields’ shot over Semi Ojeleye during the championship series

To summarize: Shields did not play in the Super Cup due to a first injury, he did not play in the Italian Cup due to the second injury. When he sustained a significant injury, Olimpia was undefeated in the league and 3-1 in the EuroLeague. Without him Olimpia had won in Villeurbanne, in his season debut it had lost after an overtime against Alba Berlin at home, but with him came the big win Belgrade and then in Munich after his exit. When he returned to the EuroLeague, Olimpia was as a fact eliminated even if his return, more or less coinciding with the signing of Shabazz Napier, allowed the team a sensational final run that gave the illusion of being able to snatch a playoffs’ place in extremis. Overall, Olimpia went 6-4 with him in the EuroLeague. A 60 percent pace would have guaranteed at worst the fifth place in the standing over the duration of the season. Without him, the record was 9-15, 37.5 percent. In the league he’s played 25 games. In general, we have seen him for less than half of the games. But the real Shields was seen only at the end, after the great game that he had in Belgrade at the start of the season when he offered a clinic on what it means to be a fantastic “two-way player”.

Shields here shot over Isaia Cordinier

In the final series, he guarded Hackett, Belinelli and Teodosic, defended by running behind an elite shooter or applied full court press over the opposing point guard. And then on offense, he played with his energy using his lethal mid-range shooting, his one-on-one efficiency and, sometimes, the three-point shot. In the Finals, he averaged 14.9 points per game plus 4.1 rebounds and scored 23 points in the crucial Game 5 win.Shields, who recently turned 29, numbers wise, is already one of the greatest players in the history of Italian basketball. He is fourth for points scored in championship series games, moved up to 24th on the all-time playoff scorers list, ninth among foreign players, fourth in the final series. If he’s still not as popular as he should be, obviously not inside the friendly confines of the Mediolanum Forum, it’s only because he’s a shy boy who speaks with his actions, not his words, he doesn’t like interviews or showing off. At his home in Kansas City, he grew up with an American football legend, one of the greatest defensive players in history, Will Shields. When he chose to play basketball and went to Nebraska, this was the same university his father attended. Shavon wasn’t Shields he was Shields’ son. Coming to Europe, in a culture he knew thanks to his Danish mother, he was able to carve out his own identity. His niche. But his identity is that of a quiet guy who is a proven winner on the court. And now he will stay three more seasons.

Shavon Shields

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