Born in 1938 in Venezia, a small forward of 1.90, they say Vianello was one of the first Italian player to use a style years ahead his time. A perimeter guy, very athletic and a great scorer, he started to play for Reyer Venezia, his town’s team where he made his debut in the top league, then was moved to Varese where he won his first of his five championships. His decision to move to Milan was an historical one, was a big topic and also obstacles by Varese’s owner Guido Borghi who succeeded in stopping him basically for one season. When he arrived in Milano, Vianello was at the pinnacle of his career in terms of maturity and skills. In the great Simmenthal of the Sixties, he was one of the main players contributing, before finishing his career back in Venezia but always playing at high level (Vianello never had a single-digit scoring average in his career), to four championships and mostly to the European Championships that defined Olimpia’s history and Italian basketball history. It took place in 1966 in a very difficult edition. Simmenthal struggled to beat during the qualifying rounds the Belgians from Malines and especially the great Real Madrid team. The Spanish club was the last obstacle before the Final Four, scheduled to be play in Italy. Olimpia had to beat Real in Palalido and overcome the point differential from the first game in Madrid. Simmenthal produced a memorable game, won by 17, riding the best game of Vianello’s career. He scored 40 points, even shadowing the 27 points scored by the legendary Bill Bradley. In the Bologna’s final game against Slavia Prague, Vianello scored 21 more points and led all the scorers.

Nane Vianello had a personal best of 67 points scored in a game, he played also for Motomorini Bologna for one season and had 15 Italian league seasons, all of them scoring in double figure. He played in three Olympic Games before retiring at 34 after a season with Splugen Venezia. He lives in Venezia right now, but takes frequent trips to Thailand