One of the great stars of world basketball, Luka Doncic, is beginning to shape his future beyond the NBA courts. The Dallas Mavericks star is part of a group of investors working to bring a franchise to Rome as part of the ambitious NBA Europe project, driven by commissioner Adam Silver
The move, sources with knowledge of the plans told The Athletic, puts the Slovenian player as one of the faces of the expansion of American basketball on the continent.
The group would be led by Donnie Nelson, former general manager of the Dallas Mavericks and one of the main people responsible for Doncic‘s arrival in the NBA in the 2018 draft after closing a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. Nelson has a preliminary agreement to acquire the Italian club Vanoli Basket Cremona, in a strategic operation that would allow him to access the Italian Serie A license, an essential requirement to compete in the future European league.
Luka, a claim to attract visibility… and capital
Doncic, 26, has become directly involved in the project as an investor, according to sources in both US and European basketball. His presence brings enormous symbolic and media weight to the initiative, as he is one of the most influential players on the current scene who emerges as a key element in attracting capital and visibility. The deal reinforces the idea that the Slovenian point guard is preparing his arrival in Europe but not as a player, at least not in the coming years, but as a key figure in the offices.
Although at first there was speculation about the participation of Dirk Nowitzki, his entourage denied this possibility. However, Rimas Kaukenas, a Lithuanian star with a long career in Italian basketball, is among the investors. The Athletic contacted some of the parties involved but without success. Doncic’s entourage declined to comment, while the Cremona club’s executives also did not comment publicly.
The strategy is to move the sports project to Rome, more than 500 kilometers from Cremona, where an almost new franchise would be set up. Serie A regulations prevent the club’s name from being changed during the first two years, which would force a gradual transition before consolidating the new identity linked to NBA Europe.
Priority cities for the NBA
Adam Silver has pointed to Rome as one of the priority cities to host licensed teams, along with London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and Milan. The Italian capital, which is not currently represented in the top domestic league, is seen as a virgin market with great economic and media potential for professional basketball.
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