Gigi Datome Leaves National Basteball Association, Signs With Fenerbahce In Turkey

Datome signed with the Turkish Euroleague team Fenerbahce on Monday. He signed a three-year, $1 million deal with Fenerbahce, a team stacked with talented athletes who spent time in the league as well.

Datome said that though he talked with Dallas, Washington and the Clippers, none would guarantee him a regular, consistent role. I just wanted to go through all of the calls I was getting. Thank you everybody for all the the “good luck” messages you sent me and for the huge curiosity you showed during my free agency.

However, it’s unclear whether or not he had any National Basteball Association offers, and with his contract in Turkey supposedly being lucrative, he may have just taken the biggest deal offered.

Under the guidance of legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic, Fenerbahçe has won last year’s domestic championship and made it to the Euroleague final four.

Datome said he was grateful that Celtics gave him a chance.

Datome also talked to teams from Russian Federation and Spain, in addition to Olimpia Milan, the team the Celtics will play on October 6 in an exhibition game.

“It was the most positive experience in my career”, he said. “Now that I’m out of the National Basteball Association, I will be a Boston Celtics supporter for sure”. While with the Celtics Datome enjoyed far more playing time averaging a total 10.7 minutes per game as opposed to the 5.7 he averaged with the Pistons. He recorded double figure scoring on five separate occasions while playing for Brad Stevens’ team.

Now, Celtics fans will have to say farewell to the man they know as “Gigi”. He shot 49.4 percent from the floor and an impressive 47.2 percent from 3-point range.