Pietro Aradori (born 9 December 1988) is 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 for

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA). Standing at , he plays at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions.

Professional career

The

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

native played for the youth side of U.C. Casalpusterlengo from 2003, he was a teammate of Danilo Gallinari there. He debuted in the third division during the 2005–06 season. The next year he joined

Andrea Costa Imola Andrea Costa Imola is an Italian professional basketball team based in Imola, Emilia-Romagna. The side is playing in the second division Serie A2 Basket, Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season. History Andrea Costa Basket was founded on 4 October 1967, ...

, of the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He averaged 12.8 points (team-best), 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 30 games for a side fighting relegation. In June 2007, Aradori signed a three-year contract with Armani Jeans Milano. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

(first division) debut that season, also playing in Europe's best competition, the EuroLeague. Though he played regularly for the side, he did not manage to establish himself and finished the season with

Lottomatica Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the Italian basketball league system, first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, fo ...

, who he reached the 2008 Serie A finals with. Aradori then moved to

Pallacanestro Biella Pallacanestro Biella, known as Angelico Biella for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Biella, Piedmont. It plays in the second division Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season. For past club sponsorship names, see ...

, he also struggled with form there before a March performance against

Montegranaro Montegranaro is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Fermo in the Italian region of Marche, located about south of Ancona and about north of Ascoli Piceno. It is one of the main centres for shoe production in Italy. Main sights Churc ...

, contributing 23 points on 7-for-8 three-point shooting, restored his confidence. He then became one of the main protagonists of Biella's Serie A semifinals run, their best ever finish. For his part in that success, he was awarded the

Premio Reverberi The Premio Reverberi (or Oscar del Basket) is a basketball prize that is awarded annually by the city of Quattro Castella, Italy, in collaboration with the Italian Basketball Federation and the Lega Basket, which is the organizing body of Italy' ...

, an award given by a number of organisation, as the Best Italian player of 2008–09. The next year, he had an excellent season in both the European second tier Eurocup and the league. In the latter, he posted 16.8 points (3rd best in Serie A), 5 rebounds and 2.1 steals, earning the Best Player Under 22 award. A move to league champions

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

followed in July 2010. In a team that won every domestic trophy (

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

, Supercup) whilst also reaching the 2011 Euroleague Final Four Aradori took time to find his place, playing limited minutes. The situation was repeating itself the next year (with Aradori a subsistute as Siena again won the Supercup and Cup) but an injury to starter Rimantas Kaukėnas gave him more playing time. Aradori grabbed his chance, with good performances against FC Barcelona Bàsquet, Barcelona (11 points in the last six minutes to earn a win) and even more so against Asseco Gdynia, Asseco Prokom (23 points - missing only 2 shots - 7 rebounds, 3 steals for 1 turnover, all career bests, for a Efficiency (basketball), performance index rating of 33), the second earning him Euroleague Week 10 MVP honours. Despite this, he remained a substitute at Siena, moving to rival Serie A side Pallacanestro Cantù in July 2012 on a two-year deal. There he became a starter, helping Cantù progress from the qualifying rounds to the 2012–13 Euroleague group stage where he averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 30 minutes for a PIR of 15.4. In 2013–14, Aradori contributed 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in the 2013–14 Eurocup Basketball, Eurocup, including a Week 1 MVP's 28 points and 6 rebounds against QTSV Quackenbrück, Artland Dragons, as Cantù reached the last 32. At the expiry of his contract, amidst offers from Italian sides, Aradori moved to the Turkish Basketball League with Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball), Galatasaray Liv Hospital, declaredly in order to play at a more competitive level (in both the league and the Euroleague). The Italian averaged 7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2 assists in around 21 minutes in the 2014–15 Euroleague, Euroleague, with personal (and game) highs of 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists against Valencia Basket, Valencia in November, in the league he had 6.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20 minutes. However, unhappy with his playing time and above all salary arrears, Aradori left Galatasaray in December, signing with Spanish side CB Estudiantes, Estudiantes. He posted averages of 13.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2 assists in the competitive Liga ACB, becoming a fan-favourite at Estudiantes. In May 2015, with the side assured of safety, he returned to Italy with Reyer Venezia Mestre in order to play in the 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A, 2015 Serie A playoffs. On 16 July 2015 Aradori signed a two-year contract with Pallacanestro Reggiana, Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia. On 14 July 2017 Aradori signed with Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, Virtus Bologna for the 2017–18 season.

International career

Aradori played for the under-age Italy squads, first with the Under-16's before playing in the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship where he posted 22.1 points, 6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1 steal per game. With the Under-18's, he won a bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, 2007 European Championship, contributing 11 points in the third place game. He also participated in the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, 2008 edition. After playing in the Basketball at the 2009 Mediterranean Games, 2009 Mediterranean Games with the Italy B squad, scoring 29 points in the semifinal and 21 in the bronze medal game (both defeats), he was called up with the senior Italy national basketball team, Italian national team that was preparing for FIBA EuroBasket 2009 qualification, though he did not play. He stayed in the national fold from then on, he had a marginal participation in FIBA EuroBasket 2011 qualification but was cut from the squad for the tournament proper due to Italy's overabundance of players in his position. Aradori became a regular for Italy in 2012, contributing 12.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in around 22 minutes per game as the side qualified for EuroBasket 2013. He was in good form at the tournament, averaging 11.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He was called up to the squad that would take part in EuroBasket 2015 to start on 5 September.

Honours and titles

Individual

*Lega Basket Serie A awards#Best Player Under 22, Serie A Best Player Under 22: 2010 *Premio Reverberi (Oscar del basket) Best Player: 2009

Team

champion (2): 2010–11 Lega Basket Serie A, 2011, 2011–12 Lega Basket Serie A, 2012 *Italian Basketball Cup, Italian Cup winner (2): 2011, 2012 *Italian Basketball Supercup, Italian Supercup winner (4): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 Italian Basketball Supercup, 2015 *Basketball Champions League: 2018–19 Basketball Champions League, 2018–19

Youth

*FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, European U20 Championship: 2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, 2007 Italy/Slovenia

Career statistics

Euroleague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 Euroleague, 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, AJ Milano , 11 , , 3 , , 13.7 , , .366 , , .077 , , .833 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .4 , , .0 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 Euroleague, 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

, 14 , , 1 , , 10.8 , , .435 , , .500 , , .760 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .4 , , .0 , , 4.9 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 Euroleague, 2011–12 , 17 , , 1 , , 10.4 , , .455 , , .313 , , .813 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , .1 , , 4.8 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 Euroleague, 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;", Pallacanestro Cantù, Mapooro Cantù , 8 , , 7 , , 30.0 , , .513 , , .565 , , .781 , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , .0 , , 15.0 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 Euroleague, 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball), Galatasaray , 8 , , 3 , , 21.2 , , .472 , , .400 , , .800 , , 2.9 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .0 , , 7.0 , , 10.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , 15 , , 15.3 , , .457 , , .400 , , .791 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , 0.3 , , .0 , , 6.2 , , 6.6