Simone Fontecchio (born 9 December 1995) is an Italian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays at the small forward position.
Fontecchio participated in an array of youth tournaments:
2011 Jordan Brand Classic International Tour game in London (not to be confused with the International Game of the same tournament)
2012 Albert Schweitzer Tournament
2012 Basketball Without Borders Europe
2012-13 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament Rome tournament.
Fontecchio notably won the Italian Under 17 championship in 2011–12 and the Under 19 championship the same season and in 2012–13, all for Virtus Bologna.
Fontecchio was promoted from the Virtus U19 to the senior side in 2012–13, alternating between the two during the season. He played a symbolic minute in LBA on 4 November 2011 before posting his first genuine first division stat sheet, missing his five shots for three rebounds and a steal, on 30 December.
After an active youth career and a professional debut at only 17, there was talk of him going to the United States to play high school and later on college basketball, however he stayed loyal to Virtus and signed a five-year professional contract with the team in June 2013, his parents had to be present as he was still a minor at the time.
After twice being selected to take part in the league All Star Game (2014 and 2015), he was voted Best Player Under 22 in May 2015.
That season would also see his first participation in the playoffs, scoring 10.3 points and grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game as Virtus were swept by title holders Olimpia Milano.
Fontecchio declared for the 2015 NBA draft on 25 April as an early entrant, two years before being automatically eligible in 2017.
He attended a draft workout with the Boston Celtics in June 2015, whilst they declaredly considered picking in the second round, he withdrew his candidacy on 16 June 2015.
On 8 July 2016, Fontecchio signed with Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A and the EuroLeague. After an unsatisfying 2018–19 season with Olimpia, where Fontecchio played an average of less than a minute Euroleague and 2.8 minutes in Serie A, Fontecchio was set to join his former team Virtus Bologna, coached by Aleksandar Đorđević, but the agreement was not finalized.
On 18 July 2019, Fontecchio signed with Reggio Emilia in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).
On 7 July 2020, Fontecchio signed with Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). It was here where Fontecchio broke out, averaging 10.6 points in over 23 minutes per game.
On 9 July 2021, Fontecchio signed a three-year deal with Baskonia of the Liga ACB.
On 17 July 2022, Fontecchio signed a two-year, $6.25 million contract with the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Utah Jazz. Fontecchio made his NBA debut on 19 October. On 7 December, Fontecchio made a game-winning dunk in a 124–123 win over the Golden State Warriors. Fontecchio's career high came on 14 December 2023, against the Portland Trail Blazers, where he scored 24 points on 87% field goal percentage. Fontecchio tied his career-high 24 points on 2 January 2024, in a 127–90 win against the Dallas Mavericks.