Rome’s basketball scene has its derby, but doesn’t know which side to support

In January 1980, Rome was a leaden-grey city where there was little appetite for thinking about sport. After all, the first ‘Calcio Scommesse’ scandal was about to break, which would condemn Lazio to relegation, whilst basketball offered little excitement.

On 27 January, at the Palazzetto on Viale Tiziano, Eldorado Lazio and Acqua Fabia Roma played their A1 derby. Lazio won, but both teams ended up in A2. Since then, there have been no more city derbies for the capital’s basketball teams. But the long, troubled wait – almost impossible to predict (nearly half a century) – is about to come to an end. Tomorrow, in what remains of the Palaeur – just over 6,000 spectators, whilst we await the opening of the second tier to increase capacity to 9,000 – Maxima take on BC Roma on the third matchday of the A1 league. An event for a city which – despite its great basketballing tradition – has endured years of deep and embarrassing dormancy. The game is expected to be a sell-out, driven by the appetite for basketball within the Raccordo Anulare for this unique derby. Many fans have not yet chosen a side. People are going to watch Maxima and BC (at the Palazzetto) because the hunger for basketball here is a given – it needs no proving. Yet choosing which side to support is, for now, a delicate and slippery matter. And it is not the only one. Setting aside the mechanisms that have brought two teams back to the capital in the blink of an eye – from zero to a hundred in just a few weeks – there has not been time to understand who and what lies behind this sumptuous, opulent, yet highly risky operation. Indeed, American ownership and the allure of NBA Europe are dampening the process of identifying with the two clubs. Ultimately, even the media stunt straight out of the Cencelli playbook—involving Francesco Totti and Ciro Immobile under the Maxima banner, with the Roma icon embraced alongside the Lazio one—reveals just how vague notions of belonging are, like the stars of the Big Dipper.

It could hardly be otherwise, given the speed with which the two clubs were founded, in a sporting landscape where facts – not idle chatter – are needed to win over supporters, build a fanbase and ensure consistent results. A city with insatiable sporting appetites, Rome devours its own creations if they fail to deliver reliability. The case of volleyball is emblematic, with Piaggio’s men’s league title 26 years ago, an isolated flash in the pan amidst a subsequent and unpredictable barren spell. Consequently, while attempting to determine which of the two teams to support, one is left to consider Maxima’s primary need—still winless in the league—as the crux of a clash against BC, who have bolstered their start by also winning in the EuroCup. These are the first stirrings of a basketball scene seeking to forge its own path in the American style, amidst advertisements and captivating videos on the electronic billboards dotting the capital. An unusual uncertainty pervades the core group of Roman basketball fans – a battleground for those who have indeed raised the standard of basketball in the capital, but who must now establish themselves and resist the temptation to walk away should the promises not be kept. Ultimately, this lingering doubt hangs over the entire endeavour. It is difficult to decide which team to support, difficult to gauge the future prospects, and, in the end, difficult even to trust. But these are political and speculative considerations. For basketball lovers, seeing the derby return after almost half a century has the sweet taste of a rivalry revived, of a movement no longer weighed down by the dusty memories of the 18,000 crammed into the Palaeur to witness Banco Roma’s triumphs, or of those clambering onto the balustrades of the Palazzetto thirteen years ago, during Virtus’s final competitive surge as they lost the league final to Siena. At last there is a presence – a dual and ambitious one. It may not yet have the staying power of a passionate fanbase, ready to split its allegiance between Maxima and Basket Club. But the idea that Rome could once again become a basketball city is spreading amongst the 6,100 who have already bought tickets for tomorrow’s match at 5.30 pm on the no-longer-abandoned court at the EUR. Victories and passion will be needed to return to the glories of the past. But this derby, after half a century, sends a strong signal. Coaches Cotelli and Magro face the – daunting – task of restoring the city’s enduring passion for Roman basketball.