The birth and the Borletti era (1930–1955) The birth of Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano is traditionally dated 1936, year of the first
Italian League Championship title won by the team. Actually it was founded 6 years earlier (in 1930) as "Dopolavoro Borletti" by
Fratelli Borletti managers. Borletti team won 4 consecutive
Italian League Championships from
1936 to
1939. In 1947, Milan businessman Adolfo Bogoncelli merged Pallacanestro Como and Borletti to form a new society, commonly known as "Borolimpia". "Borletti" brand was the main sponsor of the team, becoming the first sponsor in the history of Italian sport. In 1955, after 9
Italian League Championships, Borletti brand leaves Olimpia Milano jersey.
The Simmenthal era (1956–1973) The team regularly won the
Italian League Championship in the 1950s and the 1960s, with players including
Gabriele Vianello,
Sandro Riminucci,
Gianfranco Pieri, and
Bill Bradley. In
1966, Olimpia won its first
FIBA European Champions Cup. In the 1970s, three teams were fighting across Europe for supremacy: Olimpia Milano,
Ignis Varese, and
Real Madrid.
Pallacanestro Varese and Olimpia Milano were arch-rivals, as the two cities are 25 miles (40 km) apart. While Milano was a frequent
Italian League champion, they were unable to win again the prestigious
FIBA European Champions Cup. Late in the 1970s, the quality of the club declined, but Olimpia Milano still managed to win a
FIBA Cup Winners' Cup. In 1973, Simmenthal brand leaves Olimpia jersey after 17 years and 10
Italian League Championships.
1974–2007 In the 1970s through the 1980s, the team acquired several notable players, including the Boselli twins (Franco and Dino),
Mike Sylvester, Chas Menatti,
Dino Meneghin,
Mike D'Antoni,
John Gianelli,
Roberto Premier.
Bob McAdoo,
Joe Barry Carroll,
Russ Schoene,
Antoine Carr, and
Mike Brown. American
head coach Dan Peterson led the team back to prominence. In the 1980s, the team was sold to the Gabetti family. After this, they qualified for nine Serie A championships finals, winning five, with the 1987 team winning the Serie A title, the
1986–87 FIBA European Champions Cup (won also in
1988: both finals were won against
Maccabi Tel Aviv), the
Italian Cup and the
1987 FIBA Club World Cup. This gave the club the coveted
"Triple Crown" and the even rarer "Quadruple Crown". Led by point guard
Sasha Djordjević, the team won another
FIBA Korać Cup in 1993. Bepi Stefanel purchased the team franchise in 1994, and signed-up notable European players like
Dejan Bodiroga,
Gregor Fučka, Sandro De Pol, and
Nando Gentile. In 1996, the team won the Italian Cup and its 25th Italian National Championship, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the club. Team management was inconsistent, as ownership groups from 1998 to 2004. Players of the team included
Warren Kidd,
Hugo Sconochini,
Claudio Coldebella and
Petar Naumoski. In 2005, owner Corbelli, which bought the club in 2002, from
Sergio Tacchini, was flanked by
Adriano Galliani (managing director of Italian Football club
A.C. Milan),
Massimo Moratti (President of rival club
Internazionale),
NBA star
Kobe Bryant, and stylist
Giorgio Armani, as sponsor with the Armani Jeans brand. After difficult years, led by coach Lino Lardo, Olimpia reached the national championship Finals, finally being beaten by
Climamio Bologna. On January 25, 2006, in the midst of a disappointing season in the EuroLeague and domestically, Djordjevic was named as the team's new coach. He left as coach after the 2006–07 season, but not before securing Olimpia a berth in the
2007–08 Euroleague.
2008–present In 2008,
Giorgio Armani bought the team from Giorgio Corbelli, standing as the only owner, entirely changing the management structure, naming Livio Proli as president, and Lucio Zanca as
general manager.
Piero Bucchi was chosen to coach the new team, leading Olimpia twice to second place in
LEGA Basket, being defeated by
Montepaschi Siena in both cases. In January 2011, after 23 years away from coaching,
Dan Peterson came back from retirement at the request of team owner
Giorgio Armani to replace Piero Bucchi, who was fired in mid-season. Peterson was hired on an interim basis and agreed to coach only the remainder of the season, in which he guided the team to the semi-finals. On June 9, Olimpia Milano announced
Sergio Scariolo as new head coach for the 2011–12 season. The first player signed for the 2011–12 season was
Omar Cook, an American-born
play maker, who had played the previous season with
Power Electronics Valencia. Owing to the
NBA lockout,
Danilo Gallinari went back to his alma mater, playing 15 games (8 in the Italian League, 7 in
EuroLeague): he left the team in December.
Sergio Scariolo was replaced by
Luca Banchi at the beginning of the 2013–14 season, and the team brought from
Montepaschi Siena:
David Moss,
Kristjan Kangur, and
Daniel Hackett. The team reached the quarterfinals of
EuroLeague, 16 years after its last appearance, but the team lost against the eventual league champions,
Maccabi Tel Aviv. The team finished in the 1st position the
LEGA Basket regular season, and in the 7th game of the playoff's finals, Olimpia won its 26th Italian League championship title, its first after 18 years.
Alessandro Gentile, the
captain of Olimpia, was named
MVP of the finals. On June 29, 2017,
Simone Pianigiani was hired as the new head coach and on June 15, 2018, Milano went to win his 28th title by beating
Dolomiti Energia Trento in game 6 of the
2018 LBA Finals. On June 11, 2019, legend
Ettore Messina signed a deal as the new head coach of the club and president of all basketball operations for the following three seasons. On May 4, 2021, the club reached the
Euroleague Final Four after 29 years (
1992 Final Four). ==Logos==