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Did he want to help move a professional basketball team to Rome? The question came from Donnie Nelson, a former Mavericks executive who had brought Mr. Doncic to the National Basketball Association from Europe and was among those celebrating the win. Mr. Doncic barely had to think before answering yes. The pair are now the lead decision makers of an investment group that has bought a northern Italian basketball team, Vanoli Cremona, from a town that is famous for its violin makers. The group plans to move the team to Rome and submitted a bid to be the Roman representative in the N.B.A.’s ambitious plan to create a league in Europe.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic made a major announcement on social media on Friday, stating: "Basketball is coming back to Rome.” As a minority shareholder, Doncic is referring to a new European basketball team that could eventually become part of a potential NBA Europe project. Rome has been without a top-level team since the bankruptcy of Virtus Roma in 2020, which left the Italian capital outside the elite basketball landscape for several years.
Rome will again have a basketball team at the top European level, and it’s not Virtus Roma, the club that stopped existing in 2021. As “Gazzetta dello Sport” reports, on Tuesday afternoon (12/5), the Italian basketball federation is expected to formally approve the move of Vanoli Cremona Basketball, a club founded in 1999, to the Italian Capital.
Silver wants to put new teams in London, Paris, Rome, and Manchester, England, backed by soccer giants and the biggest investment funds in the world (the Saudi PIF has expressed interest). Existing clubs with similar financial backing are being targeted in Barcelona and Madrid, in Milan, in Athens and Istanbul, Berlin and Munich, and Lyon, France. If Silver is (and in all likelihood, he will be) successful in bringing this new league on line, current NBA players said, overwhelmingly, they would consider, some day, playing in NBA Europe. “Yeah, it would interest me a little bit. I think that’s pretty cool,” said Charlotte rookie and Rising Star Kon Knueppel.
Luka Doncic is part of an investor group headed by former Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson that is seeking to bring a team to Rome as part of NBA Europe, three sources told The Athletic. Nelson, 63, the son of legendary former NBA coach and executive Don Nelson, has a preliminary agreement in place to purchase an existing basketball team from northern Italy, Vanoli Basket Cremona, to potentially set up a much larger play of entering a team into NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s new European league.
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The NBA Europe plan also includes other teams in major European cities, and Rome is reportedly a potential location thanks to the backing of a wealthy entrepreneur. "A team in Rome? Yes, Rome will be there. There’s an option on the table linked to a very wealthy entrepreneur," he confirmed.
NBA Europe managing director George Aivazoglou confirmed that the project will launch in October 2027, adding that teams from Rome, Milan (Italy), London, Manchester (United Kingdom), Paris, Lyon (France), Madrid, Barcelona (Spain), Berlin, Munich (Germany), one team from Athens (Greece) and Istanbul (Turkiye) will be playing in the competition.
Warriors guard Buddy Hield on his offseason travels to Rome: “Gladiator. I watched Gladiator and I thought Maximus was a real warrior. I’m going into the Colosseum yelling ‘Maximus!’ and my tour guide was like, ‘He’s not real.’"
Tatum pointed to the lack of permanent Euroleague teams in key cities including London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, and said the investment that comes with a new league would help bring sorely needed basketball infrastructure to the region. "The lack of world-class basketball facilities in Europe is striking relative to the affinity there," Tatum said. "There are big markets in Europe that aren't being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren't being serviced."
The NBA’s plan is to create a new competition with teams based in major European capitals. In addition to Madrid and Barcelona, candidate cities for one of the eight to ten franchises include London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Rome, Milan, and Berlin.
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Adam Zagoria: After Bronny James and Sierra Canyon played in London, Paris and Rome over the summer, the @Hoophall will also hold a high school event in London in December pic.twitter.com/FCgGo1m2nN
After Bronny James and Sierra Canyon played in London, Paris and Rome over the summer, the @Hoophall will also hold a high school event in London in December pic.twitter.com/FCgGo1m2nN
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 20, 2022
But the turning point of his career came in those practice runs. After a training camp in Rome established Boston’s “Ubuntu” mission and a hot start out the gate that year, Pierce set up those G-Unit runs to keep them on their toes and to continue pushing. Pierce was on his way out the door in Boston a year earlier. Now “The Truth” was trying to drive the culture every day. “That never happened with P before. He was not doing that. He was not engaged like that,” says Powe. “But it all changed when KG got there, and that moment when he set up those runs was crazy. That’s what I think he was all about. He was all about winning and being competitive.”
Dane Moore: Malik Beasley on what he has told his Timberwolves teammates about getting through this rough patch: "You gotta remind yourself that Rome wasn't built in a day... Rome will be built soon."