Before he started his career in 2019 in Hainan, Sapio had worked in Shanghai and Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province.

He received his first job offer in China in 2013 to be a sports consultant in basketball operations in a sports club located in Shanghai. "I love coaching players from different countries and different cultures, so I accepted the offer without hesitation," Sapio recalled.

What drove the Italian to Shanghai was not only his obsession with the sport but also the vast basketball market in China, the world's most populous country of 1.4 billion people.

Hard work certainly pays off. When he served as U15 team head coach in Dongguan Basketball School, he led the team to victory, winning twice China's national U15 championships.

Sapio won the CBA Youth Coach of the Year award in 2018, making him the first coach from overseas to win this honor.