Lakers’ Luka Doncic invests in Italian team, hopes to fulfill dream

Luka Doncic is bringing basketball back to Rome.

The Lakers superstar is part of an investment group, which is led by former Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson, that purchased professional basketball club Vanoli Cremona of Italy’s top-division Lega Basket Serie A. 

As part of the deal, new ownership announced the team will relocate to Rome, with plans to submit a bid to be part of the NBA’s plans to create a league in Europe. 

Rome hasn’t had a top-division basketball team since the bankruptcy of Virtus Roma in 2020.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced earlier in the year that the NBA, in partnership with FIBA, is working on bringing a new league to Europe but didn’t announce formal plans, share a timeline for when the league could potentially start or the number of teams that could be a part of the league.

Rome is expected to be one of the target host cities for the league along with Milan, London and Manchester in England; Lyon and Paris in France; Berlin and Munich in Germany; Barcelona and Madrid in Spain; Athens in Greece; and Istanbul in Turkey.

While details for the new league haven’t become official, the working target date for the league to launch is fall 2027. 

The NBA and FIBA have explored a 16-team league, which includes 12 “permanent” spots and four other teams that qualify for a spot in the league. 

Nelson, 63, is the son of former NBA coach and executive Don Nelson, and was the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations and general manager when Dallas acquired Doncic as part of the 2018 draft night trade with the Hawks.

Doncic, who’s Slovenian, played professionally for Real Madrid before coming to the NBA. 

“Since I came to the NBA, my dream was to always own a team in Europe, especially because Europe gave me so much,” Doncic told The New York Times. “I grew up there, grew up playing basketball there.”

With Post wires.

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