The news isn’t official yet from the NBA, but Spurs guard Marco Belinelli let the cat out of the bag in a chat with Italian sports daily LaGazetta dello. Per the Express-News (via Sportando):
“I am happy because it is very important to me, my fans and Italy,” Belinelli said. “It is going to be a step forward in my career. I go to New Orleans to win.”
Belinelli follows teammate Matt Bonner, who was the runner-up to Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving in last year’s shootout despite finishing with one of the best final rounds in competition history.
The 27-year-old Italian had been the league leader in percentage for most of the season before dropping below Kendall Marshall of the Los Angeles Lakers and Bonner with an ongoing 2-for-14 slump.
No Spur player has ever won the shootout.
