Scola goes down Memory Lane at FIBA Headquarters

MIES (Switzerland) - Luis Scola is a legendary figure in international basketball because of his performances, success and endless commitment to Argentina's national team.

A leading figure in the country's golden generation, a beloved and respected sportsman not just in Argentina but around the world, Scola is a member of international basketball royalty. He retired from the game last summer after competing at the Olympics in Tokyo.

He is the only player in the history with five participations at the Olympics and five participations at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. What an illustrious career!

He had a send-off for the ages, too. Late in his team's defeat to Australia in the Quarter-Finals in Tokyo, Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez pulled Scola out of the game and as he walked to the bench, everything seemed to stop.

Australia's coaches and players rose from their bench and walked onto the floor and everyone on the court stood and applauded Scola in one of the most poignant moments of the Games.

“To me, it's very important. I played a lot of years in FIBA, did a lot of things. To see FIBA do well is very refreshing”

Since 2021 Luis has been appointed CEO of Varese basketball with the goal of improving sports, commercial and social outcomes through his international experience. In order to accomplish this new path with the best method, he enrolled in a management program at SDA Bocconi - the 1-to-1 Academy for athletes - carrying his vision and winning mentality in his training path for the development of this new step of his career.

On Thursday, Scola graced the The Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, just outside of Geneva, Switzerland, with his presence and spent time with FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and others.

"I got a chance to meet a lot of people," he said of his visit. "To me, it's very important. I played a lot of years in FIBA, did a lot of things. To see FIBA do well is very refreshing so I'm very happy today and I hope to come back very soon."

Scola played at FIBA Basketball World Cups and FIBA Olympics soaked up the rich history of the sport, some of which he was a part of. And not just as a player!

Among the various mementos that he noticed was a poster of the 1990 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which was staged in Buenos Aires.

Scola looked at various mementos in the Pedro Ferrándiz Library at the House of Basketball

Upon seeing that poster, Scola revealed something that few, if anyone,  knows. As a 10-year-old, he was a ballboy at the 1990 FIBA Basketball World Cup which was staged in Buenos Aires and was won by Yugoslavia.

"I was there cleaning the floor, passing balls and just doing the job of a ballboy," he said. Scola was a ballboy the day that Yugoslavia won the Final.

"Later on, there was this famous documentary, Once Brothers, about the flag, Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic," he said.

From ballboy to superstar

The documentary chronicles the relationship between Divac and Petrovic, who played in the Yugoslavia national team from 1986 to 1990.

"It was cool because 12 years later, I got a chance to play against Vlade Divac, in the World Cup Final (in Indianapolis)."

Indeed, at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 in Indianapolis, Scola appeared in his first major tournament with the senior team and played in a thrilling title game against Divac and Yugoslavia. Scola played 22 minutes in that game and had 11 points and 5 rebounds. He also had a crucial steal in the final seconds and Argentina looked as if they were going to score the winning points, only for a foul to be called on Scola. The game went to overtime and Yugoslavia prevailed, 84-77.

Argentina were not kept off the top of the podium at the next big event, however. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens in one of the biggest spectacles in international basketball history, Scola and Argentina beat defending champions USA in the Semi-Finals and then defeated Italy in the Gold Medal Game, 84-69. Scola scored 25 points and corralled 11 rebounds - both game highs - in one of the most famous sporting successes in Argentina history.

13 medals in FIBA major Events!

Asked on Thursday to choose one memory that stands out above everything else, Scola answered: "It's very, very hard for me to not think about the (Olympic) gold medal as the one thing. It's such a big thing that I think it overshadows everything else.

"But I got to do a lot of things. I'm not just talking about winning and losing, which is of course, important. The whole journey was awesome. But if I had to choose one, that would be the Olympic gold medal in Athens."

But Scola's career was filled with legendary moments and he offered an addendum.

"I had the opportunity to carry the (Argentina) flag in Rio," he said, referring to the Opening Ceremony at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

"To me, that's one of the things that makes me the proudest. At the end of the day, the Olympics is something that's much bigger than basketball, even much bigger than sport.

"It's a cultural event, it's historical, and for me to have a chance to carry the flag in front of my whole country's sports stars in an event that's so big like the Olympics, in South America in front of my own family, it's something that's pretty special that I kind of put at the same level of the Olympic gold medal. Those would be the two things that I would choose."

Golden generation

Argentina has had a seismic impact on basketball, giving the sport some of its finest players over the years.

Two of them were Scola's Hall of Fame teammates in Argentina's Golden Generation, Fabricio Oberto and Manu Ginobili.

Oberto has been enshrined at the FIBA Hall of Fame, and it's just been announced that Ginobili is to be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

While in Mies, Scola saw an Argentina jersey that Oberto wore.

"You come into these places and you see these things," he said. "Manu is going into the Hall of Fame and you see Fabi there, his jersey, and you think of all of these things that we were a part of, you can't avoid feeling proud about it.

"You can't avoid smiling. It's just a very cool thing that we had a chance to be a part of. I'm very happy about that."

FIBA