Ettore Messina

Ettore Messina
	Olimpia Milano
Career highlights and awards
	As head coach: 4× 2008); FIBA Saporta Cup champion (1990); 3× VTB United League champion (2008, 2013, 2014); 6× Russian League champion (2006–2009, 2013–2014); 7× LBA champion (1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2022–2024); 4× Russian Cup winner (2005–2008); 9× Italian Cup winner (1990, 1999, 2001–2005, 2021, 2022); 2× Italian Supercup winner (2002, 2020); 3× Gomelsky Cup winner (2012–2014); 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008); FIBA EuroStar (1998); European Coach of the Year (1998); 2× EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2006, 2008); VTB United League Hall of Fame (2019); 4× Russian League Coach of the Year (2006–2009); 3× LBA Coach of the Year (1998, 2001, 2005); LBA Hall of Fame (2008); 2× Italian Coach of the Year (1990, 1993); As assistant coach: NBA All-Star Game (2016); LBA champion (1984); 2× Italian Cup champion (1984, 1989);
	FIBA Hall of Fame as coach
Men's basketball
Representing Italy
EuroBasket
Mediterranean Games

Ettore Messina (born 30 September 1959) is an Italian professional

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors

in 2008.

He was named the

Coach of the Year twice, in 2006 and 2008. He was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Russian VTB United League Hall of Fame, in 2019. Messina also previously worked with the San Antonio Spurs, as an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich

, from 2014 to 2019.

Club coaching career

Virtus Bologna

Messina had two different stints (1989–1993 and 1997–2002) as the

2000–01. He also added two Italian League championships to his trophy case in 1998 and 2001, as well as three Italian Cup

titles in 1999, 2001, and 2002.

Benetton Treviso

Messina then served as the head coach of the Italian League club Benetton Treviso, where he succeeded Mike D'Antoni as head coach, in 2002. He stayed there for 3 seasons. With Treviso, he won the Italian League championship in 2003, and also the Italian Cup title thrice, adding them to a total streak of 5 consecutive titles, with two different clubs.

CSKA Moscow

Messina then joined the Russian club

2008–09 season. He was offered a position as the technical director at CSKA, but at the time of his resignation, he had not decided whether or not he wanted to stay with the club.^[1]

Real Madrid

Messina was announced as the new head coach of the Spanish League club Real Madrid, on 18 June 2009,^[2] and signed his contract with the club the following day. After Real Madrid had several poor performances, Messina resigned from the club's head coach position, in March 2011.^[3]

Los Angeles Lakers

Messina was frequently the subject of speculation linking him with vacant coaching jobs in the NBA. For example, he was one of the many coaches in the discussion for the Sacramento Kings head coaching role, and it was also rumored that he would join the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs coaching staffs. Messina eventually agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, as part of head coach Mike Brown's coaching staff, as a full-time consultant to the head coach, for the 2011–12 season.^[4]

Return to CSKA Moscow

In June 2012, Messina decided to leave his job as a consultant for the Los Angeles Lakers, and he returned to CSKA Moscow, to become the team's head coach.^[5] In June 2014, he parted ways with CSKA Moscow.^[6]

San Antonio Spurs

On 15 July 2014, Messina was hired by the San Antonio Spurs, as an assistant coach.^[7] On 16 October 2014, Messina would coach the Spurs in a 121–90 preseason win against the Phoenix Suns, due to Gregg Popovich being unable to travel with the team at the time.^[8]

Messina would later take on the role of the World Team's head coach in the 2016 NBA Rising Stars Challenge. On 7–8 March 2016, Messina again served as head coach of the Spurs, for two games, due to Gregg Popovich leaving the team for a family emergency.^[9] On 19 April 2018, Messina temporarily took over head coaching duties of the team in their playoff series versus the Golden State Warriors, due to Popovich having left the team in light of his wife's death the previous night.^[10]

Olimpia Milano

On 11 June 2019, Messina signed a three-year contract, and agreed to become the new head coach and President of Basketball Operations of the Italian club

Olimpia Milano.^[11]^[12]

National team coaching career

From 1993 to 1997 Messina was the head coach of the senior men's

1997 EuroBasket

.

In 2016, Messina took a short leave of absence from the San Antonio Spurs, in order to return as the head coach of the

2017 EuroBasket

.

Coaching record

Legend
G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss %

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Result
Virtus Bologna	1991–92	19	13	6	.684	Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	1992–93	16	8	8	.500	Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	1997–98	22	19	3	.864	Won EuroLeague Championship
	1998–99	23	15	8	.652	Lost in EuroLeague Finals
	2000–01	23	20	3	.870	Won EuroLeague Championship
	2001–02	22	17	5	.773	Lost in EuroLeague Finals
Treviso	2002–03	22	18	4	.818	Lost in EuroLeague Finals
	2003–04	20	14	6	.700	Eliminated at Top 16 Stage
	2004–05	22	12	10	.545	Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs
CSKA Moscow
	2005–06	24	19	5	.792	Won EuroLeague Championship
	2006–07	25	22	3	.880	Lost in EuroLeague Finals
	2007–08	25	20	5	.800	Won Euroleague Championship
	2008–09	21	16	5	.762	Lost in EuroLeague Finals
Real Madrid	2009–10	20	12	8	.600	Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs
Real Madrid	2010–11	16	11	5	.688	(resigned)
CSKA Moscow	2012–13	26	21	5	.808	Lost in EuroLeague Semifinals
CSKA Moscow	2013–14	31	22	9	.710	Lost in EuroLeague Semifinals
AX Armani Exchange Milan	2019-20	28	12	16	.429	Season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic
	2020-21	41	25	16	.610	Lost in EuroLeague Semifinals
	2021-22
Career		377	279	98	.740

Domestic Leagues

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Result
PBC CSKA Moscow	2007–08	32	31	1	.9688	Won 2008 Russian Super League 1 Finals
PBC CSKA Moscow	2008–09	32	30	2	.9375	Won 2009 Russian Super League 1 Finals
Real Madrid	2009–10	42	31	11	.7381	Lost 2010 Liga ACB Second Round
Real Madrid	2010–11	40	29	11	.7250	Lost 2011 Liga ACB Second Round
PBC CSKA Moscow	2012–13	31	24	7	.7742	Won 2013 VTB United League Finals
PBC CSKA Moscow	2013–14	29	24	5	.8276	Won 2014 VTB United League Finals
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan	2019–20	21	14	7	.7500	League cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan	2020–21	38	28	10	.7368	Lost 2021 Italian League Finals
Career		265	213	52	.8038

References

^ "Messina era ends, Pashutin hired at CSKA!". Euroleague.net. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
^ "Real Madrid: Messina takes over as head coach". Euroleague.net. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
^ "Ettore Messina officially leaves Real Madrid". Sportando.com. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^ "Hoopsworld.com Lakers: Messina to Consult Brown". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link).
^ McMenamin, Dave. "Ettore Messina joins CSKA Moscow". ESPN. ESPNLosAngeles.com. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^ "CSKA Moscow, Messina part ways". Euroleague.net. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
^ "Spurs Announce Ettore Messina Assistant Coach". NBA.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
^ "Ettore Messina will serve as acting coach for the Spurs in Phoenix". Sportando.com. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^ POPOVICH TO MISS SPURS’ NEXT TWO GAMES.
^ Ley, Tom (19 April 2018). "Gregg Popovich Won't Coach Spurs In Game 3 Following Death Of His Wife". Deadspin. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
^ "Ettore Messina is Olimpia Milan's New Head Coach". olimpiamilano.com. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
^ "Legend Messina takes reins in Milan". Euroleague.net. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

External links

Euroleague.net Coaching Profile
Spanish League Coaching Profile (in Spanish)
Italian League Coaching Profile (in Italian)
50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors Ettore Messina

[Resignation_-_EL-1] "Messina era ends, Pashutin hired at CSKA!". Euroleague.net. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.

[2] "Real Madrid: Messina takes over as head coach". Euroleague.net. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.

[3] "Ettore Messina officially leaves Real Madrid". Sportando.com. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

[4] "Hoopsworld.com Lakers: Messina to Consult Brown". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link).

[5] McMenamin, Dave. "Ettore Messina joins CSKA Moscow". ESPN. ESPNLosAngeles.com. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

[6] "CSKA Moscow, Messina part ways". Euroleague.net. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.

[7] "Spurs Announce Ettore Messina Assistant Coach". NBA.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

[8] "Ettore Messina will serve as acting coach for the Spurs in Phoenix". Sportando.com. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

[9] POPOVICH TO MISS SPURS’ NEXT TWO GAMES.

[10] Ley, Tom (19 April 2018). "Gregg Popovich Won't Coach Spurs In Game 3 Following Death Of His Wife". Deadspin. Retrieved 14 June 2019.

[11] "Ettore Messina is Olimpia Milan's New Head Coach". olimpiamilano.com. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.

[12] "Legend Messina takes reins in Milan". Euroleague.net. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

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Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF WorldCat
National	Italy United States Czech Republic

v t e Olimpia Milano current roster
0 Lô 3 Bortolani 7 Tonut 13 Napier 17 Ricci 21 Flaccadori 30 Caruso 31 Shields 33 Mirotić 42 Hines Dimitrijević Nebo LeDay
Head coach: Messina