Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Nocioni | |
|---|---|
| Born | Andrés Marcelo Nocioni November 30, 1979 Gálvez, Santa Fe province, Argentina |
| Other names | Chapu |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player (former) |
| Years active | 1995–2017 |
| Known for | NBA player, EuroLeague champion, Olympic gold medalist |
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born November 30, 1979) is a former professional basketball athlete from Argentina. Throughout his career, he earned two selections to the All-EuroLeague Team and competed in the NBA for eight seasons between 2004 and 2012. In 2015, Nocioni secured the EuroLeague championship and was honored with the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award.
He contributed to Argentina's gold medal victory at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, as well as to the teams that achieved bronze in the 2008 Olympics and silver at the 2002 FIBA World Championship. In recognition of his impact on Argentine basketball, he was awarded the Konex Award in 2010 as one of the nation's top five players of the decade. The Argentinian Basketball Confederation retired his number 13 jersey in tribute.
Personal life
Andrés is the second child of Pedro José "Pilo" Nocioni and Ángela Palmira Roux, both natives of Santa Fe province. The family resided in Gálvez, where Andrés completed his schooling. He is married to Paula Raquel Aimonetto, and they have two sons named Laureano and Benicio. Nicknamed "Chapu" after a well-known Argentine TV show El Chapulín Colorado, Nocioni holds dual citizenship with Argentina and Italy.
Argentina and Spain
Nocioni launched his professional journey in the Argentine National Basketball League during the 1995–96 season with Racing Club de Avellaneda. He was recognized as the league's Best Sixth Man for the 1998–99 season. In 2001, he transferred to Vitoria-Gasteiz to join Spain's TAU Cerámica, competing in the elite ACB Spanish league for three seasons as a key reinforcement. He received the 2004 MVP distinction and was selected twice for the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2003 and 2004.
Chicago Bulls
Following his Olympic gold medal achievement in 2004, Nocioni entered the NBA by signing as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Chicago Bulls, joining fellow Argentines Manu Ginóbili and Carlos Delfino.
In his debut NBA season, he appeared in 81 games, averaging 8.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists over 23.4 minutes per contest. His aggressive defensive style sparked controversy, leading to a one-game suspension after a hard foul on Detroit Pistons player Tayshaun Prince. An earlier incident involved a physical foul on Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, which escalated tensions resulting in a technical foul and ejection for Udonis Haslem.
During an NBA.com teleconference interview, Nocioni accepted responsibility for the foul on Wade but argued that the suspension related to Prince was unjust and misrepresented. His impressive performance during his first NBA playoff appearance—posting 25 points and grabbing 18 rebounds across 48 minutes—solidified his popularity among Chicago supporters.
In his sophomore NBA season, Nocioni averaged 13.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while playing all 82 games (starting in 43). His contributions earned him Chicago Bulls' Player of the Year honors for the 2005–06 campaign. During that postseason, he averaged an impressive 22.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, highlighted by a notable 30-point outing against the Miami Heat. He matched this scoring output against the L.A. Lakers later that year and recorded a personal best of 31 points along with 13 rebounds versus the New Orleans Hornets.
Nocioni missed approximately one-third of the 2006–07 season due to plantar fasciitis but made his return late in April 2007. As a restricted free agent that summer, he agreed to a five-year contract worth $38 million with Chicago despite interest from teams such as the Memphis Grizzlies. The agreement was finalized on July 18, 2007.
Before the start of the 2008–09 NBA season, Nocioni revealed that persistent knee tendinitis had hampered his training following his bronze medal success at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Sacramento Kings
On February 18, 2009, Nocioni was traded to the Sacramento Kings along with Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons in exchange for John Salmons and Brad Miller. He started the final 23 games of the 2008–09 season, averaging 13.7 points per contest. As Sacramento was in the midst of a rebuilding process, Nocioni saw his playing time diminish and subsequently requested a trade.
Philadelphia 76ers
On June 17, 2010, Nocioni was involved in a trade sending him to the Philadelphia 76ers alongside Spencer Hawes in return for Samuel Dalembert. On December 29, 2010, he recorded a season-best performance with 22 points and 12 rebounds during a 123–110 win over the Phoenix Suns.
Return to Argentina
Amid the 2011 NBA lockout, Nocioni trained with Peñarol de Mar del Plata. Following the NBPA’s decision to dissolve and pursue legal action against the NBA, he joined Peñarol to compete in the Súper 8 tournament in November 2011. On November 26, shortly after news of a tentative new collective bargaining agreement emerged, Nocioni helped Peñarol claim its third Súper 8 championship.
Return to Spain
After the lockout concluded, Nocioni returned to play for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2011–12 NBA season, but was waived in March 2012 after appearing in only 11 games. His final NBA game took place on March 12, 2012, where he scored one point in limited minutes during a victory against the Boston Celtics.
Following his release, he rejoined his former club, Caja Laboral, for the remainder of that season. Since number 5 was already assigned to teammate Pablo Prigioni, Nocioni wore number 55. He extended his contract with Caja Laboral in July 2012.
On July 20, 2014, Nocioni parted ways with Baskonia and signed a two-year deal with Real Madrid five days later. In May 2015, Real Madrid captured the EuroLeague title by defeating Olympiacos 78–59 in the final game. Nocioni was honored as the Final Four MVP. Additionally, Real Madrid secured the Spanish League championship by sweeping Barcelona 3–0, completing a prestigious European Basketball Triple Crown.
Nocioni renewed his contract with Real Madrid on July 21, 2016. On April 3, 2017, he announced his intention to retire at the conclusion of the 2016–17 season.
National team career
Nocioni represented Argentina across numerous international tournaments, earning a silver medal at the 1999 South American Championship and gold medals at both the 2001 South American Championship and FIBA Americas Championship. In 2002, he played an important role as Argentina secured a historic silver medal at the FIBA World Championship, highlighted by their landmark victory over the United States—the first since NBA players were permitted to participate.
A vital contributor to Argentina’s gold medal triumph at the 2004 Olympics—the first Latin American team to achieve this feat—Nocioni maintained his influence in subsequent major competitions. At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, he led Argentina’s scoring against Nigeria with an impeccable shooting display (23 points on a perfect 9-for-9 field goals including five three-pointers). Argentina finished Group A undefeated (5–0) but suffered a narrow one-point defeat to Spain in the semifinals. In the bronze medal match against the United States, Nocioni contributed 18 points.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nocioni helped guide Argentina to the semifinals, including a standout performance of 19 points with four three-pointers versus Russia. Despite knee tendinitis restricting his minutes in the semifinal loss to Team USA, he added 14 points as Argentina secured bronze by defeating Lithuania.
Nocioni continued playing key roles in later competitions: winning gold at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship held in Mar del Plata; representing Argentina at both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2014 FIBA World Cup; and earning silver and selection to the All-Tournament Team at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship. He concluded his international career following participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
On February 26, 2018, Argentina retired Nocioni’s #13 jersey during a ceremony held in Olavarría amid a qualification match for the 2019 FIBA World Cup against Paraguay. Subsequently, he was appointed as an assistant within Argentina’s coaching staff.
NBA
| * | Indicates league leader |
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 81 || 38 || 23.4 || .401 || .258 || .766 || 4.8 || 1.5 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 8.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 43 || 27.3 || .461 || .391 || .843 || 6.1 || 1.4 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 13.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 53 || 31 || 26.5 || .467 || .383 || .848 || 5.7 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 14.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 27 || 24.6 || .432 || .364 || .807 || 4.2 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 13.2 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 53 || 2 || 24.1 || .414 || .378 || .806 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 10.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento | 23 || 16 || 31.0 || .448 || .441 || .763 || 6.0 || 1.8 || 0.6|| 0.7|| 13.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento | 78 || 28 || 19.7|| .399|| .386|| .717||3.0||1.0||0.4||0.3||8.5 |- | style="text-align:left;" | | style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia |54||17||17.2|| .426|| .356|| .803||3.1||0.8||0.3||0.3||6.1 |- | style="text-align:left;" | | style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia |11||1||5.1|| .250|| .167|| .545||1.3||0.1||0.1||0.1||1.5 |- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |514||203||23.4|| .431|| .373|| .799||4.5||1.2||0.4||0.4||10.5
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2005 NBA Playoffs | style="text-align:left;" | 2004–05 Chicago Bulls season |6|||6|||33.7||| .403||| .353||| .739|||8.2|||2.3|||0.2|||1.0|||12.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2006 | style="text-align:left;" | Chicago |6|||6|||38.3|||.560|||.476|||.857|||.8,8|||1,5|||.8|||,3|||22,3
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2007 | style="text-align:left;" | Chicago |10|||0|||19,7|||360|||333|||722|||3,5|||,8|||,2|||,5|||8,8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2011 | style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia |1|||0|||10,0|||000|||000|||000|||2,0|||0,0|||0,0|||0,0|||0,0
|- class="sortbottom"
|style=text-align:center colspan=2 Career |23||12||27,7||438||367||789||6,0||13||||06||||13||
EuroLeague
| † | Indicates seasons when Nocioni secured the EuroLeague title |
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left" rowspan="5"| Baskonia | 20 || 9 || 20.5 || .508 || .421 || .778 || 3.8 || .9 || 1.3 || .6 || 9.1 || 9.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | 19 || 11 || 29.0 || .520 || .437 || .697 || 7.6 || 1.3 || .8 || 1.0 || 16.8 || 18.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | 16 || 13 || 25.8 || .479 || .377 || .759 || 5.8 || 1.5 || .9 || .9 || 13.8 || 14.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | 28 || 21 || 23.5 || .436 || .337 || .767 || 4.0 || .8 || .5 || .6 || 10.9 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14 | 21 || 15 || 26.3 || .454 || .349 || .789 || 6.6 || 1.7 || .8 || 1.2 || 13.6 || 16.2 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2014–15† | style="text-align:left" rowspan="3"| Real Madrid | 29 || 8 || 17.7|| .461|| .374|| .796|| 3.9|| .5|| .2|| .3|| 8.7|| 7.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16 | 24|| 1|| 13.9|| .383|| .374|| .771|| 2.8|| .2|| .1|| .5|| 5.8|| 5.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17 | 15|| 0|| 6.4|| .375|| .269|| .600|| .8|| .3|| .1|| .0|| 2.4|| .3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Total Career | 172||78||20.5||.461||.366||.760||4.4||.8||.6||.6||10.1||10.1