Maxima Roma lose their opening match against Napoli. A team searching for its identity

If there were just one moment from a match that could capture its essence, Matt Rizzetta has captured it. At the end of the Serie A basketball opening-day fixture between Maxima Roma and Napoli Basket, the president of the Neapolitan side posted a picture on social media of his fans celebrating after their convincing 75–94 victory over the team put together on paper last summer by the Italian-American entrepreneur Paul Matiasic: “You can’t buy this”. A not-so-veiled reference to the fact that, to secure a team in Italy’s top flight, Matiasic directly purchased the Brescia franchise. And these words go some way towards explaining what happened at Maxima’s debut. A debut that was announced, organised and experienced more as an event than as a basketball match.

At the gates of the Palaeur – a venue which, in the minds of Romans, is now a distant memory, having once been home to Virtus Roma – it is immediately apparent that this is no niche crowd. Queuing up are the youth team players, easily recognisable as they’re all wearing T-shirts with a yellow helmet on them, but alongside the die-hard fans, you can also spot families wearing T-shirts featuring Soulè and Candela – two Roma players, to be sure, but from the football team – as well as people whose attire suggests they’re not regulars at Italian sports arenas. It is clear, however, that the media campaign has borne fruit and Matiasic has succeeded in his aim of drawing attention back to a sport that hasn’t received much in Italy. Official figures confirm that there were 6,324 spectators in attendance – a figure not often seen in Serie A, partly because the arenas themselves do not allow for such large crowds. For this reason, the Palaeur was forced to open the third tier as well. The presence of such a diverse crowd, however, inevitably had an impact on the atmosphere. During the warm-up, the announcer attempted to liven things up and even initiated what was intended to be the main chant by calling out ‘Maxima’ syllable by syllable, in an effort to forge a bond between the fans and the team from the outset; but after a few seconds the chant died down and never resurfaced spontaneously during the match.

This is because a sense of belonging doesn’t spring from nowhere. This was Maxima’s first official match and many people knew the players only by reputation, such as Miro Bilan, a veteran who had previously played for Sassari and Brescia, and John Brown III, best remembered in Italy for his two years at Brindisi. And it was clear that, like the fans, the team – coached by Matteo Cotelli – is still trying to find its footing. Alongside Bilan and John Brown III, the Bosnian-American Mirza Alibegović and Aaron Shawn Holiday – brother of the more famous Jrue Randall, who won an NBA championship ring with the Boston Celtics in 2024 – also stood out. Last night’s match was never really in the balance. Maxima were constantly playing catch-up against Napoli, who had boosted the competitiveness of their squad over the summer by signing the Italian trio of Spissu, Petruccelli and Caruso. By the end of the third quarter, the match was already heading towards defeat for Roma, so much so that in the final minutes of the game, some members of the crowd could already be seen getting to their feet to avoid getting stuck in traffic.

Beating Napoli was no mean feat, especially for a newly formed team. But, setting aside the points lost in the league table, the victory would have been significant also because the day before, the capital’s other team – Basketball Club Roma, set up by Slovenian basketball player Luka Doncic this summer – had lost to Treviso. A different result yesterday at the Palaeur would certainly have been the spark needed to ignite a rivalry amongst the fans, and in turn strengthen their bond with the team – as happens, for example, when Lazio and Roma face off on the football pitch. But for all this to happen, it is not enough simply to buy the Brescia franchise, sign players and create a spectacle with dance performances, light shows that make it look as though flames are shooting up from the court, and music reminiscent of the Gladiator soundtrack. It takes time. Time for people to identify with the team to the point where they are willing to travel to an away fixture, in an arena packed with 6,324 opposing fans, and never stop chanting in support of their players. So much so that the home fans end up looking like the away supporters.