Achille Polonara has decided to stop playing basketball. He did so with a message published on social media, putting an end to a long career marked, in recent years, by a much greater challenge than the parquet. At 34 years old, the winger from the Marche chose to stop after attempting to return with individual training. He wrote, with words that tell of an awareness developed over time:
I tried, resuming individual training, but I understand that it’s time to say enough to playing basketball because I will no longer be the player I was before and I want you to remember me for who I was..
A farewell that does not come suddenly, but at the end of a complex journey, in which the desire to return clashed with the limits imposed by the body after leukemia.
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A career between Italy, Europe and the national team
Polonara was a pillar of Italian basketball, a protagonist with the blue shirt from youth up to the senior national team, with 94 appearances and 596 points. Among the most significant moments, the participation in the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, achieved after the Pre-Olympic victory against Serbia, and the experiences at the 2023 World Cup and the European Championships.
Raised in Basketball Teramo, he built his career between Italy and Europe, winning titles in several championships. In Italy he won the scudetto with Virtus Bologna in 2025 and a Super Cup, while abroad he triumphed in Spain with Baskonia, in Turkey with Fenerbahce and in Lithuania with Zalgiris Kaunas. A path that also saw him as a protagonist with Dinamo Sassari, with whom he won the Fiba Europe Cup.
The illness and the return that seemed possible
In June 2025, the diagnosis arrived that changed everything: acute myeloid leukemia. From that moment on, his sporting career took a backseat to make room for treatment. Polonara underwent a bone marrow transplant in September of the same year, after having already returned to the field months earlier following surgery for a testicular neoplasm. In recent months, improvements in his health have allowed him to return to training, rekindling hopes of a return. But reality clearly imposed itself, leading him to the final decision.
The greeting between gratitude and clarity
In her message, Polonara wanted to thank those who were part of her journey, without forgetting even the most difficult moments.
Thanks to the coaches, thanks to my teammates, to the medical staff of every team where I have been for making me feel like a good player but above all a man… thanks to those who insulted me on social media and in the arenas, you have been my strength!!!! I wish this moment would never come.
A clear awareness for a farewell to the sport to which he gave so much. Now, however, after trying to get back into the game, he chose to stop at the right time, letting what he did on the pitch speak for itself. A full, recognizable career that remains linked to what has been, without the need to add anything else.
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