Two Rome teams, but one dream: NBA Europe

After years away from the top flight, Rome is suddenly rediscovering top-flight basketball. The sound of the basketball bouncing on the court has never quite stopped, but the upcoming league season will see not just one team from the capital on the starting line-up, but two. Even in the world of Italian basketball—which is, after all, accustomed to teams being bought up and moved around the country along with their league titles—this is an unprecedented experiment. And the reason, setting aside the good intentions expressed over the last few weeks by the two club owners, is linked to three magic letters in the world of basketball: NBA.

The deadline for submitting bids to secure a place in the new venture set up by the American giant, NBA Europe, passed at the end of June: 12 cities are certain to have a permanent franchise ahead of the launch, scheduled for October 2027, whilst the new US organisation is even considering the possibility of making a bid to acquire the EuroLeague. As for Rome, the mystery will be resolved in the coming months: who will come out on top – BC Roma, led by a consortium headed by Donnie Nelson, son of the recently deceased legend Don and former general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, NBA champions in 2011, and Luka Doncic, star of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Maxima Roma, owned by lawyer Paul Matiasic, who had been the owner of Trieste since 2024 before deciding to shift his investments to the Eternal City?

BC Roma has taken over the Cremona franchise; Maxima Roma has secured the Brescia franchise. In both cases, there was no shortage of controversy. Whilst BC Roma had to build its entire squad from scratch, things were slightly simpler for Maxima, with the retention of Bilan, Brown, Veronesi and Wheatle – who were already under contract with Brescia – as well as coach Cotelli. As for BC Roma, the club had made its intentions clear well in advance: the signing of Nico Mannion, fresh from two seasons with Olimpia Milano, was a sure-fire guarantee for the league. Mannion himself, at a press conference last Monday, also confirmed that he had been in direct contact with Luka Doncic during the negotiations. The rest of the squad was effectively unveiled at the pre-season training camp.

There is, as one might expect, an elephant in the room that cannot be ignored: who will choose to support two clubs that were artificially created just a few months ago? The history of basketball in Rome is long and troubled, and in recent years, if that is possible, the die-hard fanbase of Virtus Roma has become even more entrenched: following the Toti family’s decision in December 2020 to withdraw the team from Serie A1 partway through the season, Virtus legend Alessandro Tonolli, together with entrepreneur Maurizio Zoffoli, had spearheaded the creation of ‘Virtus Roma 1960’, thanks to Petriana’s sporting licence. It was precisely this club, which in the meantime had reached Serie B Nazionale, that reacquired the trademark – the famous ‘rombo’ – in December 2025. Given that this sense of belonging has not been lost even during the most difficult years, it is truly hard to imagine fans leaving Virtus for either of the two new clubs. Also competing in Serie B Nazionale is Luiss Roma, the team representing the university of the same name.

In a city of boundless proportions, basketball has never been the main attraction, overshadowed by the passion for football in Rome and Lazio. There have been bursts of great success and enthusiasm: the golden age of Banco Roma, Italian and European champions in the mid-1980s; the era fuelled by the billions from the Ferruzzi group in the early 1990s before the ‘Mani Pulite’ scandal; and finally that of the Toti family, who, however, often found themselves reluctantly facing a half-empty PalaEur even during matches against EuroLeague giants. Is there, therefore, another fanbase to be drawn to the capital’s two main arenas? BCRoma will have the task of filling the Palazzetto dello Sport on Viale Tiziano – a decidedly modest venue – whilst perhaps setting its sights on the Centrale at the Foro Italico, with its much-coveted roof, should the club join NBA Europe; Maxima Roma, meanwhile, has set its sights on the PalaEur. In recent weeks, the head-to-head race between the two clubs has seen some key developments: BCRoma announced the appointment to its advisory board of Bryan Colangelo, twice named NBA Executive of the Year, and Dream Team legend Chris Mullin; Maxima Roma, on the other hand, has secured Francesco Totti on a three-year contract as an adviser – a surprise move aimed primarily at capturing the attention of the people of Rome towards the club. And in the background, a nagging question remains: what will become of whoever misses the NBA boat?