Ettore Messina, the man once believed to have been brought in to take the reins from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, started his coaching career with youth basketball back in 1976.
An impressive three-plus decades overseas garnering four EuroLeague Championships, six Italian League championships, eight Italian Cups, two Italian Supercups, a three-peat of Torneo Comunidad de Madrid championships, six Russian League Championships, two Russian Cups, a trio of Golmesky Cups, were enough to earn the Italian-born coach an invite to join the newly crowned 2014 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.
As if the opportunity to win a championship in the United States wasn’t enough, the two-time EuroLeague and four-time Russian League Coach of the Year quickly became the favorite to succeed the franchise’s long-time coach.