“This is one happy day for all of us – Olimpia’s general manager Christos Stavropoulos explains – Finally, we brought Nicolò Melli back in Milano while he is at the top of his game and mature as a man”. Nik listens, exhales and points out: “I’m happy to be back after six years, but this not a landing spot, this is just another re-start. I’m here to win as much as possible. I’m here because the role the coach and club thought for me is extremely appealing. I’m back, but a lot of things are new and different and this is a team who came one made shot short of making it to the EuroLeague final,” he says. Later he will stroll before the Duomo. It’s like the return of never forgotten son.

The free agency – “I signed for Olimpia before the NBA free agency even began, so I made a clear choice. When I spoke to Coach Messina, what he offered me both individually and as a team won me over. That’s why I have no regrets. I am happy with my NBA experience, but I am also happy to be here, very motivated by the challenges that await us.”

Olimpia outlook – “This is an ambitious club, which has come within a made shot of the EuroLeague championship game. For me, they let go one of the best players on the team, if not the best (Zach LeDay – ed), and this told me a lot about the kind of esteem that Olimpia has for me. What was presented to me won me over.”.

What Milan represents – “For me it represents an important segment of history, but when I left, I experienced all the other stages of my journey as opportunity of growth. I don’t know what the next three years will represent here, but I know that I don’t consider them a landing spot, but a re-start. I came here with the goal of winning as much as possible “.

The Italian League rivalry – “It’s nice that there is a rivalry of this level also in Italy, with Virtus, but I think there are other top-level teams, for example Venice and Sassari who always do well. When I was here there was the rivalry with Siena, now with Bologna. It is important to have clubs that invest and to have high-level players in the league, but I don’t see it as a two-team race, there are other strong teams.”

The European market – “I am focused on Milan, not on anything else. What was proposed to me by the coach and the club convinced me and now I am here, happy, and with the goal of winning. At Fenerbahce I made the Final Four twice, it was nice, because it’s never to be taken for granted.”

He will be the new Captain? – “I have always said that being the captain of the national team made me proud, but I added that the grades are Gigi Datome’s and I have only kept the band warm for when he returns. I haven’t talked to anyone here yet. For all the players, especially for an Italian, being Captain of Olimpia would be an incredible honor, but it’s not a decision that is up to me. I would be happy if it were, beyond any doubt, a decision shared with the team as well. Counting the five years I spent here, I’m probably the player with the most appearances, but it’s also true that I’ve been away for six years, and I’ve never played in Milan with any of these guys. Sure, at worst, I played with Datome in Istanbul.”

Personal revenge – “No, I have no revenge to take. When I went to Bamberg I did it to take a step forward, to change roles within the team. Now I’m going back, but so many things have changed that it doesn’t completely feel like a return, and the only aspiration I have is to help the team win.”

That 2014 championship season – “It was an indescribable joy. I also have an anecdote to tell. At the end of Game 7 my first thought was for my parents, I wanted to go to them in the stands. But fans were all over the court, nothing was understood. I was moving but I was unable to move forward because a gentleman was holding me back. Once, twice, three times. In the end, to free myself, I pushed him away. When I arrived at the spot, I only found my mom. Then I realized that the person holding me was my father. That push cost him a month and a half of back pain.”

The NBA experience – “It was an experience that gave me a lot, even though I didn’t play a lot during my second season. I carry with me a lot of good things and a little bit of rust that has probably also surfaced during the national team activity. But there will be time to play many games and take it out. I played against the best playersin the world, but there are great players here too.”

The other bigs in Milano – “I’m finally happy to play with and not against Kyle Hines. We started to play one against the other when he was in Veroli in A2 and I in Reggio Emilia in A2. I will finally have him on my side. Mitoglou also intrigues me because he is a player against whom I have always struggled. We could be interchangeable, and this too is a usable weapon. Then I’m happy to find Biligha, who is the Italian Kyle Hines, Pippo Ricci, as he did with the national team will give us quality, and Kaleb Tarczewski: physically he is a beast.”

The Olympics – “I don’t have a unique memory, but I carry with me a lot of enthusiasm and the awareness of having lived an experience that not everyone can live. Then I had a short break between the national team and the start of practices here, which should help me get off to a good start. If I need to point out to a moment, I’d rather say the win in Serbia, but we did not see it as a surprise. We had seen their games, how they struggled to win, we knew we could do it. In Tokyo, the beauty is that camaraderie that is also created with other athletes from different sports, seeing the competitions together with other athletes, enjoying the wins.”

The role – “My mentality has always been to do what the team needs, being a second point guard or a facilitator is fine with me, I have never had a problem giving up a shot to pass the ball to a better positioned guy, perhaps in the NBA I paid for this habit.”

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