Gianfranco "Franco" Lombardi (20 March 1941 – 22 January 2021) was an Italian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. During his playing career, his nickname was "Dado". In 2006, he was inducted into the

Italian Basketball Hall of Fame The Italian Basketball Hall of Fame ( it, Italia Basket Hall of Fame, IBHOF) is a hall of fame that honours individuals (or whole teams) that have contributed to the spread and improvement of Italian basketball, through their sporting contribution ...

Professional playing career

During his club career, Lombardi led the top-tier level

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

in scoring, in 1964 and 1967.

National team playing career

Lombardi was a part of the senior

Italian national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team ( it, Nazionale di pallacanestro dell'Italia) represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroBa ...

s that won a gold medal at the

1963 Mediterranean Games The 1963 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the IV Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Naples 1963, were the 4th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Naples, Italy over 8 days, from 21 to 29 September 1963, where 1,057 athlete ...

and finished in the fourth, fifth and eighth places at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

, and the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, respectively.

Coaching career

After he retired from playing basketball, Lombardi had a long coaching career, working as a head coach for numerous teams in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1987

In 1987, at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, he conducted the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

entry, " Gente di mare", performed by

Umberto Tozzi Umberto Antonio Tozzi (; born 4 March 1952) is an Italian pop and rock singer and composer. Over the course of his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are: "Stel ...

and

Raf The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, placing third with 103 points, and receiving the maximum score of 12 points from 5 national juries.

References

External links

Sports-Reference.com Player ProfileItalian League Coach Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardi, Gianfranco 1941 births 2021 deaths AMG Sebastiani Basket coaches AMG Sebastiani Basket players Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basket Rimini Crabs coaches Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Italian basketball coaches Italian men's basketball players 1963 FIBA World Championship players 1967 FIBA World Championship players Mens Sana Basket coaches Olympic basketball players of Italy Pallacanestro Cantù coaches Pallacanestro Reggiana coaches Pallacanestro Treviso coaches Pallacanestro Trieste coaches Pallacanestro Varese coaches Scaligera Basket Verona coaches Small forwards S.S. Basket Napoli coaches Virtus Bologna players