NBA star Danilo Gallinari: "Being active every day, it makes you better"
As part of the 'Let's Move' celebrations ahead of Olympic Day on 23 June, the Italian basketball player spoke exclusively to Olympics.com on the benefits of an active lifestyle: "It’s amazing how the body changes, how the brain changes," he said.
Basketball
An active lifestyle has always been part of Danilo Gallinari's DNA.
“My dad was a basketball player, and so, I was brought into basketball right away since I was young,” said the Italian basketball player in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com in Boston where he plays for the Celtics. “It was very easy for me to be active.”
But beyond following in his dad’s footsteps, his parents, he says, instilled in him the importance of being active early on.
“For my mum and dad, it was very important for me to understand that it wasn’t just about basketball,” said Gallinari. “But it was about being active and being active with somebody else in a community and on a team. That made my perspective of life better.”
His active habits have continued into adulthood.
Now 34, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian is a member of the Boston Celtics and although injury kept him out of the 2022-23 season, his regimen has only increased.
“Believe it or not, when you are injured, you spend way more time in the gym than when you’re not injured,” Gallinari explained. “The rehab process is such a long and tough process that you spend a lot of hours in the gym.
“I like it,” he continued, “I’ve always liked to work on my body and see how the body changes and what my body can do to get to the best version of myself.”
Let's Move - On Olympic Day (23 June)
As the International Olympic Committee’s Let’s Move celebrations highlight Olympic Day (23 June), Gallinari says exercise helps him to become better mentally, as well as the obvious physical benefits.
“Being active, I think, is the secret for a healthy life, not just being healthy with your body but being healthy with your mental part,” he said.
With over 80 percent of young people failing to get the recommended level of daily activity for optimum mental and physical health, Gallinari says athletes must step up and lead the way.
“We need to get that percentage better and it comes from as athletes to be better role models,” he said. “We need to feel more responsible and do better.”
Gallinari’s advice to improve those percentages? Focus on the changes that will come with increased activity.
“When you’re doing zero activity and you start to do activity, it’s amazing how the body changes, how the brain changes,” he said.
Exercise and physical activity – of which he says he enjoys almost every sport including tennis, golf, and beach volleyball – has become such a spart of Gallinari’s routine that a day without it leaves him missing it.
“I just cannot stand still. When I wake up and I have a day where I’m not doing that much, I don’t feel that good at night,” he said. “So, I look back on the day and I’m like, ‘Why didn’t I do anything?’ And I don’t feel right. My mind doesn’t feel right, my body doesn’t feel right.
“And so, I know that the next day, I got to do something,” Gallinari continued. “Being active every day, it makes you better. It makes your family better and your community better.”