{"id":93624,"date":"2025-08-26T11:56:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93624"},"modified":"2025-08-26T11:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:56:43","slug":"simone-fontecchio-says-the-nba-is-work-but-the-national-team-is-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93624","title":{"rendered":"Simone Fontecchio says the NBA is \u2018work,\u2019 but the national team is \u2018fun\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heatnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25733698_168403908_lowres-860x573.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Simone Fontecchio\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio is one of multiple players on the Heat competing in EuroBasket, and Fontecchio will represent his native country of Italy in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>He put his job playing basketball in the NBA and his time playing for the Italian national team into an interesting perspective. Fontecchio indicated that he views NBA basketball as work and said that suiting up for the national team is \u201cfun\u201d in comparison.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe NBA is work, the national team is fun,\u201d Fontecchio said. \u201cBut without a medal, I wouldn\u2019t be happy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Fontecchio also spoke on just how honored he feels to be representing Italy in EuroBasket and called the opportunity a \u201cprivilege.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cClearly it\u2019s a responsibility, but above all it\u2019s a privilege,\u201d he said. \u201cI take it very serenely and happily, honestly, because it\u2019s a role I enjoy. Clearly, it doesn\u2019t happen to everyone, so I welcome it with a great sense of responsibility, pride, and positivity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He noted that he\u2019s familiar with the players on the national team and said he\u2019s known the group of guys for \u201c15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBeing in a group with these guys I\u2019ve known for 15 years, representing Italy is still a great experience and makes being away from Rosa and the girls less painful,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Forward Nikola Jovic and guard Pelle Larsson are two other Heat players set to play in EuroBasket, and the Heat reportedly are hoping that the young players will return from EuroBasket as \u201cbetter versions\u201d of themselves.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t long ago when Fontecchio\u2019s future with the Heat organization was very much in question. There were rumblings that Miami was weighing waiving him to avoid the luxury tax after acquiring him in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Duncan Robinson to the Detroit Pistons, but the Heat ended up moving forward Haywood Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade to get under the tax.<\/p>\n<p>Fontecchio played 75 games (zero starts) for a Pistons team that was shockingly successful in the 2024-25 campaign. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game in his third NBA campaign and first full season as a Piston.<\/p>\n<p>The Italian doesn\u2019t necessarily project to be a vital part of the Heat\u2019s rotation in the coming 2025-26 season, but he\u2019s a somewhat experienced player whom head coach Erik Spoelstra could turn to for sporadic production.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, Fontecchio will play well for the Heat in his maiden season with the team regardless of how often his name gets called, even if he views the NBA as work. He could give the Heat scoring boosts at times throughout the season with his knack for shooting the 3-point shot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simone Fontecchio indicated that he views NBA basketball as work and said that suiting up for the national team is &#8220;fun&#8221; in comparison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":93625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Simone Fontecchio says the NBA is \u2018work,\u2019 but the national team is \u2018fun\u2019 - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93624\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Simone Fontecchio says the NBA is \u2018work,\u2019 but the national team is \u2018fun\u2019 - 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