Wizards' Danilo Gallinari 'Cant Wait' to Play vs. Celtics, Will Mark His Schedule

Can you have a revenge game against a team you never actually played for? Danilo Gallinari seems prepared to put that theory to the test.

The 6'10" forward said on the A Cresta Alta podcast (via Gayle Troiani of NESN.com) he "can't wait" to suit up against the Boston Celtics.

"I'm loaded up. Can't wait to play against Boston," he said. "As soon as the calendar comes out I will put an X on all the times I play against Boston in Boston."

Gallinari signed a two-year contract with the Celtics last summer but suffered a torn ACL while representing the Italian national team. As a result, he missed the entire 2022-23 NBA season.

Rather than wait and see what Gallinari looks like post-ACL injury, Boston shipped him to the Washington Wizards as part of the three-team traded that landed Kristaps Porziņģis. The 34-year-old said in July he was somewhat blindsided by the move.

"I had a meeting with the team probably three, four days before the trade, and the meeting was a little different—the reason why I didn't expect the trade," he told Mass Live's Garrett Cote. "I've been through it before many times, it's just the craziness about the NBA sometimes. It was pretty quick and unexpected."

The Celtics and Wizards will cross paths multiple times in the upcoming year, and Gallinari clearly won't be lacking for motivation in those contests.