MyGen | Elia Biasutti, APU Udine

Basketball is a matter of time and space, yet it’s also the only Game capable of living, and adapting, in every time and every space. Generation after generation. To understand where the Game stands today, and where it’s headed, there’s no lens sharper than the voices of the LBA NextGen Cup, the highest expression of Italy’s youth basketball system. 

They embody the quintessence of that so-called poetry in motion: the vocation of a sport that, by its very nature, leans forward, toward progress, toward evolution. In the shifting rhythms and expanding spaces shaped by this new wave, basketball becomes a mirror of contemporary culture: something to listen to, to explore, free from stereotypes and outdated frameworks. This is MyGen. A series of visions of the Game as it is, and as it will become.

Our guest: Elia Biasutti, class of 2007, APU Udine.

“I started playing basketball in second grade. I just wanted to try a sport, any sport, and since football didn’t feel like mine, I gave basketball a shot. I wanted to do what other kids were doing… and I fell in love instantly.

What hooked me wasn’t a single move or a highlight. It was the feeling of expressing myself without speaking.

On the court, you move in a way that’s only yours. No one plays like anyone else. Everyone has their own rhythm, their own language. You go out there and what comes out… comes out. Natural.

I love focusing not only on offense but on defense: doing what’s right, doing what the Game asks of you. There’s something fun, almost pure, in playing that way.

People say our generation approaches basketball with less intensity. I don’t really agree. Sacrifice is always necessary: without it you won’t get anywhere.

But sacrifice doesn’t need to feel dark or heavy. If you love what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like a burden. It becomes part of the joy.

Representing Udine at the NextGen is a great feeling. I was born and raised in Portogruaro, not far from Udine, and seeing how the community has grown, especially now that the club is in Serie A1, is beautiful. There’s a real sense of excitement around the team, around the city.

Basketball pretty much took over my life. As a kid I played instruments here and there, but growing up, everything faded except the Game. Music is always with me when I play: at the gym, at the playground, when I’m warming up. I listen to a lot of genres: rock, new-school American trap. If I need to get hyped for a tough game, I’ll go with AC/DC. Otherwise: Eminem, 50 Cent, cult classics.

My family is passionate about music too. My mom and dad raised me on their music. And they support me endlessly. Basketball has always been at the center of everything for me and my brother. Growing up together, sharing the same passion: countless hours at the park, countless battles, arguments, fights-to-21 that ended with someone storming off… But that’s how you grow. You grow with the ball in your hands, trying to beat your brother. We’d pretend to be in the NBA: one of us was a Cavs player, the other was a Warriors one. And whoever won… made sure the other didn’t forget it.

When it comes to role models, I try to stay original: I don’t want to copy too much. In Italy, I look up to Mirza Alibegović for how much of himself he puts into every game. From around the league, I really like Burnell from Brescia. Players who bring identity, presence, personality.

And yes, it’s still possible to be original in contemporary basketball: not just in the way you play, but in how you live the Game. How you carry yourself, how you interact with teammates and coaches, how you express who you are.

Me? I like to joke around. I love singing with the team after wins. I like being myself: not too much seriousness, especially in the locker room. That’s another big difference between the basketball that was and the basketball that is.

My dream is simple: to live through basketball. To make it my life. But more than anything, to be in the right dimension, to be happy. Whether that means Serie B, EuroLeague, or the NBA… it doesn’t matter. What matters is feeling good where you are.

The thing I love most about basketball is that you earn everything. No one gives you anything. Every basket is something you have to sweat for. There’s always a goal, and as soon as you reach it, you push it further. That’s the beauty of it: the chase never stops.”