“The ball generated a radical change in my life. I had the project of being a biologist, but little by little I learned about this (while pointing at the ball) and I changed my mind. “My thing was studying, I was doing well in primary and secondary school, but little by little the ball took up my time, I became convinced and ended up being a basketball player.”. Andrés Nocioni He laughs loudly as he reviews the changes in his life’s destiny. Today, at 45 years old, sitting in the middle of the field of the stadium that bears his name and in the club in his town that is on the street that also bears his name, Chapu reviews his history with the tranquility of one who feels at home. And with the pride of someone who has had a legendary career.
The Warrior is happy because at Ceci BB he feels at home. The kids from the club surround him to ask for photos and autographs, some on their shirts and others even on the back of their cell phones. “It is a pleasure to come, I grew up and trained here. Furthermore, the club has undergone a great transformation since this board of directors, which is from my time, took office. Before it was in operation, but with its head down, lack of movement, of kids… The habit of coming to the club, of interacting, that link between the person and the neighborhood institution had been lost, but this new leadership has done a job stellar and the club is new, clean, orderly… I try to help with my presence, with my image, to generate extra resources,” he explains.
As he speaks, he opens the boxes of the 30 Europaris balls he has just donated. “Luckily, I don’t have financial need in my life and I can do things like that. What better than to do it with an Argentine company that is committed to product quality. The club gave me a lot, education and personal well-being, and I love giving something back,” he adds. The boys surround him, grab the balls and Chapu shows his usual sense of humor. “Well, ‘happy?’ Have you already touched them? Now they are saved,” he says.
Six of the boys stay and they take turns passing the ball to him. Now it’s time to train. The upcoming mega-party, on November 2 at Parque Roca, with sold-out tickets and guests who will thrill, awaits you. It will be the reunion with “my T-shirt brothers.” It starts to move, slowly, of course. “I’m 45 (years old) and it shows, you have to start the machine but little by little,” he clarifies. The hand is intact, the quality too, although he is quick to say “that right now I am the anti-basketball player. I train, sometimes I play, but in terms of basketball I must admit that I am totally useless. I realize that mine was physical and some talent to adapt, over time, to the game and its changes. But quality of play, like Manu, impossible,” he comments, minimizing himself…
He says that in General Pico, where he lives with his family, he trains at least an hour a day to stay well, healthy and in shape. “I do weights, general strengthening, especially back and abdominal exercises, I do a little rowing with a machine at home, sometimes I also go for a walk, run or do Pilates with my wife. And now that an event like this is coming up, he got a little out of it. I’m going to shoot alone or with some of the Independiente de Pico players who accompany me. But mine is not usual. I’m not one of those who retire and continue playing. I have already completed my playing cycle,” he says as his hand warms up and the Europaris begin to file in.
After a while he can’t handle his temper and starts to tip it over (see video). “I still get there but just enough, huh,” he says while laughing. He tells the cameraman to be attentive because he can’t do it many times. But he repeats it up to five times. “I have to warm up first. Every time I go back to playing there is more pain, impact sports are something else… The body is no longer the same. Neither is my level,” he clarifies with a laugh, but he knows that he has something left for 2 at night. “Some pineapples, of course, there will be no shortage of opportunities for that, especially to Manu for some of the things he did to us on the court, like making us embarrassed…” he says, unable to avoid laughing.
He immediately gets into the kitchen of how this magical reunion of the team that achieved the greatest epic in the history of Argentine sports was born. “The idea was not to play a game (laughs), but to get together after 20 years, because we had been wanting to do it for a long time. We were planning things, along the way there was a trip, a getaway to a city, like Athens, Greece, 20 years later…. But this proposal came to us and it ended well. But it was not something sought, it was something that happened and ended up materializing,” he reports.
In the chat he shares with the Olympic champions, the moment palpitates as they cross out the remaining days. “The group is much more active than normal. Before we always wrote, especially with loads, but now there is a lot of activity, with a lot of interference in what is going to be done because we want to give people something they like. Because it will be much more than a game… You have to think that some of them are already over 50 years old. I understand the kids who tell me ‘come on, dunk it’, but they should know our ages, because we want to give more than just basketball. A show where memory and emotion are the main thing of such a special night,” he says.
Behind his hardness, the rough game, Andrés is a sweet guy who is already beginning to be moved by what he will experience. “Everyone expresses their feelings in their own way, I don’t know how it will hit me, if there will be tears or not. But it is clear that, with age, one becomes more emotional. It happened to me in the All-Star Game when I met Rubén Magnano again and experienced the emotion of the popular recognition he had. We owe a lot to Rubén in that sense, he was an essential part of those successes,” he explains.
Chapu stops after the note, asks for another ball from a boy at the club and can’t handle his genius: he goes straight to the hoop, like in those golden times in which he won the love of an entire country.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.