At the age of 38, 30 of whom spent on the courts and 17 in the blue-and-white jersey, Dinamo captain Jack Devecchi announced today in a press conference his retirement from playing basketball. At the end of the season, after having collected over 800 appearances for Dinamo and placed on the bulletin board one Scudetto, two Italian Cups, two Italian Super Cups, one Fiba Europe Cup, trophies all won in Sassari, Jack will hang up his boots. But he won’t say goodbye to basketball. His future will still be Sassari, still the PalaSerradimigni, still Dinamo, where he will play a role in the technical-managerial staff.
“Good morning everyone, first of all thank you all for coming. We have decided together with the company and the press office to organize this conference two days before the end of the regular season, two days that fate wanted that weren’t just any two games for me. On Sunday we will face Reggio Emilia that made us feel the strongest emotion in recent years, we managed to lift the Scudetto, the cup lifted by the former captain Vanuzzo. The last will be Milan, there have always been many battles but for me it’s even more special because it was just twenty years ago, in April 2003, that I made my debut with the Milan shirt. They will therefore be two very important matches for me and it seemed to me the right situation to announce my retirement at the end of the season”. So, with a voice broken by emotion, Jack Devecchi announced his farewell to basketball. At his side in the Dinamo club house for the The announcement is made by the president of the biancoblu company, Stefano Sardara
“After more than 30 years with the ball in his hands, 17 of which in the white and blue shirt it seems right to me, I took this choice with a smile on my lips. It’s something special, it’s a journey that began 30 years ago but which brought me here to Sassari in 2006 and I never imagined I could achieve so many results and so many satisfactions especially with this shirt. Once I arrive in Sassari I can say that I have reached the top in Italy and also in Europewe played all European competitions, dunk included (laughs). There have been many important seasons, very long, full of victories and defeats and a lot of sweat, more victories than defeats luckily. I simply wanted to thank, I already apologize in advance if I forget someone but I will get a little emotional because it is a rather special moment”.
“I wanted to thank all my companions that I have had over the years, he continued, teammates and coaches, who have taught me so much and they made me the player I have become. I thank everyone who was part of this wonderful family of which I have had the honor of being a part of these 17 yearsall those who have started the journey and are still part of this family and those who have been there even just passing through”
“I thank the Mele family who brought me to this fantastic land and it introduced me to this city and these people who have now entered my heart, that is, all of you Sardinians. I thank Stefano Sardara who was more than a president for mewe have made a wonderful journey together that we will continue to make, I thank him because he made me reach the dreams that all children have, that of being able to play in Serie A and play in Europe, raising important cups and writing the history of Sardinian basketball and Italian and for that I will be forever grateful to you”
“Last but not least, I thank my family, I greet them because they are at home watching me. For 30 years they have supported and endured me, they have given me the spine to go through this beautiful journey. I am dreams that children have when they are young, As a child, I watched the champions play in Serie A on TV to win Scudetti and Cups and this is the dream that has come true in the best possible way. I’m really grateful to everyone, thank you!”
What will you do after the playoffs?
“With Stefano we have very clear ideas and not from todaywe have already talked about it in the last few months, because this was a thoughtful choice, another nice anecdote is that the first person I spoke to about it was Stefano himself and we were in Reggio Emilia at the first leg and we discussed the subject without wanting to naturally. We have very clear ideas by my choice and by our choice and out of respect for this season which is not over yet. Let’s focus on this championship finale and then of course we’ll talk about it in more detail”
Will you stay in Sassari?
“Yes, I took home in Sassari, I’m from Sassari, it has now become my home. Until a few years ago it was still 90%, but now it’s home, I have a partner who is from here so I’ll stay here. Then my second skin is white and blue.”
Do you feel the last flag?
“I was lucky enough to spend many years always in the same club, I think it is increasingly rare in sports. I don’t feel like the last flag, I’m honored to be considered as such but surely there will be other players and athletes who will become and are at this moment. I’m a bit of a romantic from this point of view and I think they are good stories that are good for sport. Being able to be part of a club for a long time goes beyond sporting performance. Here we have always done, especially Stefano, model and slogan of this club Ca Semus Prus De Unu Giogu che rit represents the flag very wellit’s something that goes beyond physical and athletic performance within the pitch but it’s a whole world around us that needs to be cultivated and that goes beyond sports.”
Do you leave due to mental and physical fatigue or is there some other reason?
“I believe that I certainly don’t have the physique of a few years ago anymore, I have always promised myself that at the first physical difficulties…” At this point the president intervenes Stephen Sardara which reveals an anecdote: “Can I say it? Ten years ago Jack told me “I’ll stop when I’m still running” and he decided to stop when he was still racing, that’s how it works and he did it right. I also remember that the contract that still binds us from five years ago lasts for seven years, when we signed that contract Jack still didn’t think about quitting, but we had already foreseen in the contract and it is still foreseen that the agreement would go through ahead as a player and as a manager”
What is the strongest emotion you carry within you in your career?
“Winning a Scudetto for sure, the moment of the siren is an incredible rush of emotions and adrenaline. It’s a dream that has come true, becoming champions of Italy is something unique”
Do you have a regret?
“Surely an athlete’s dream is to play in the Olympics or in any case wear the national team shirt. I didn’t get the chance, maybe I didn’t even deserve it, but from the end of the season I’ll have time to work on it and conquer it (laughs)”
Is there a moment when you became Sassari and said I’ll stay here?
“When we did this contract a few years ago it was the moment in which I said that Sardinia is my home, because I knew that my career would end with that contract and with the white and blue colours”
Do you already have in mind who to replace him with?
Sardara: “Yes, but I can’t say anything, first of all because we still have a captain, but I have to say that today we have two captains who together count as the second club in Italy in the last 10 years with the most titles won. My bad luck is that I’ve never found a captain with an ounce of brain, this is something I’ll take with me, let’s hope for the next one even if I don’t see it well (laughs).
To dress the captain’s shirt for Dinamo is not easy because for us the game part it is important because it is the engine of the whole movement but in reality if you identify yourself only for the results you do very little with us. We do so much more for that there are those who play on the field and those who play off the fieldThere are so many Dinamo players who play off the pitch to accomplish what we’re doing right now which is a very important thing. You play on the field, you play outside it doesn’t matter, wearing the captain’s colors represents a responsibility that whoever decides to assume must be an example. You saw what Jack did in the field but he has done a lot off the field in recent years, for the initiatives we have done for the educational example for the boys. Our world is not just about basketball.”
Will the shirt be retired?
Sardar: “We’ll discuss it with Jack, it would make sense but we’ll talk more about it”
Devecchi: “I sincerely thank you, thank you very much, thank you alli!”