As NBA eyes Rome, two rivals emerge to duel for favour

ROME – In a city founded, according to ancient myth, on fratricide, two modern sporting twins are waging an undeclared war to rule the Eternal City and perhaps Europe.

In place of Romulus and his brother, and victim, Remus are two recently relocated basketball teams, both exploiting the city’s classical history as they chase a single spot in a planned NBA Europe.

Having been deprived of basketball since 2020, Rome now has two teams in Serie A, the Italian basketball league which kicks off this weekend.

On one side of the wall are BC Roma SPQR, owned by former Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson and Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic. They bought the club in Cremona in northern Italy and moved it down the road that led to Rome.

On the other are Maxima Roma, the new name for the former Brescia club which in June was also moved south by owner Paul Matiasic, an American lawyer.

The sudden appeal of Rome to American money is the decision by the powerful and wealthy North American NBA to establish a presence in Europe from 2027.

‘Best possible basketball’

The NBA targeted 12 European cities for franchises in a closed league, modelled on the North American format: Paris, Lyon, London, Manchester, Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul and, in Italy, Milan and Rome.

The heads of the two Roman clubs are careful to avoid mentioning NBA Europe, the details of which remain vague.

“We want to bring the highest possible standard of basketball back to Rome, but our project isn’t designed for any particular league,” Matiasic told AFP.

At BC Roma, Nelson struck a similar note.

“Our hope is to play the best possible basketball in Rome, whether in the league, the NBA or elsewhere” said Nelson, who has a history in Europe, having served as an assistant coach with Lithuania since 1990 as they have won three Olympic bronze medals.

The new owners moved quickly because some of the big European football clubs were showing interest in a potential NBA windfall.

“Building a team from scratch is actually quite easy once you’ve chosen the right people,” Nelson told AFP.

He has appointed a young Italian coach, Alessandro Magro, and paired him with the illustrious Sergio Scariolo -– 2019 world champion and four-time European champion with Spain -– as adviser. They are supported by Chris Mullin, who won two Olympic gold medals, and played in the NBA under Donnie’s father legendary coach Don, and Bryan Colangelo, a former president of the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers.

BC Roma will field a team built around Italian international Nico Mannion, signed from the reigning champions, Olimpia Milan, and several Americans with varying degrees of NBA experience.

Maxima have hired American point guard Aaron Holiday, who spent nine seasons in the NBA, mostly as a back-up.

Matiasic pulled off a coup by recruiting Roman football legend Francesco Totti as special adviser – even though the former AS Roma and Italy striker admits he knows little about basketball.

‘He speaks to Romans’

“He understands Rome better than any of us; he has made the city’s heart beat; he speaks to Romans,” said Matiasic.

Attracting fans is crucial because the battle between the two clubs -– who will also be competing in the EuroCup, Europe’s second-tier competition – will also be played out in the stands.

Both teams will play at arenas built to host basketball at the 1960 Olympics and which were both used by the city’s old club Virtus, which went bankrupt in 2020.

BC Roma will play at the PalaTiziano, a 3,500-seat arena not far from the city centre.

Maxima are thinking bigger. They will use the PalaEUR, which is further out but has a capacity of 11,000.

“Filling the arena was a challenge for Virtus,” said basketball journalist Fabrizio Fabbri.

Even though the teams will create a little history when they meet for the first Roman basketball derby since Virtus played Stella Azzurra in 1978, Fabbri warns that the sport does not carry the ancient weight of the city’s football rivalry.

“It’s never been as electrifying as Lazio v Roma,” he said. AFP