Olimpia Milano

The name over the door has changed with the sponsors more often than the address has: Borletti, Simmenthal, Philips, Stefanel, and now EA7 Emporio Armani.

The club traces itself to 1930, when managers at the Fratelli Borletti company set up Dopolavoro Borletti, though it took until 1936 to win its first Italian championship, which is why some club histories mark that year rather than the founding as the true start. The white and red kit gave the team its nickname, Scarpette Rosse, after the red Converse All-Stars brought over for the club's American imports in the early years. Those imports kept coming: Bill Bradley wore the shirt in the mid-1960s, and later Bob McAdoo anchored the team through the late 1980s.

Cesare Rubini took Milano to its first European title in 1966, beating Slavia VŠ Praha, and the American coach Dan Peterson repeated the feat twice over, in 1987 and 1988, both times against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Those three European Champions Cups sit alongside 32 domestic league titles recorded through 2014, a tally that has kept growing with championships in 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Dino Meneghin spent a decade under the basket through the 1980s, while Mike D'Antoni built his reputation here as a player years before he became known as a coach elsewhere.

Two rivalries define the season. The meetings with Virtus Bologna carry the weight of the Derby d'Italia, while the closer, sharper needle comes from Pallacanestro Varese in the Derby Lombardo.