Lakers' Luka Doncic Sends Fans Into Frenzy With Cryptic Announcement
On April 28, longtime NBA correspondent Marc Stein dropped a bombshell about the NBA’s expansion plans.
“The NBA, I’m told, continues to target 2027-28 as the planned inaugural season for launching NBA Europe,” Stein wrote on X. “Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum have made it clear they hope to collaborate with the EuroLeague rather than compete against it.”
Stein continued, “The NBA has announced that it held talks today with EuroLeague representatives at FIBA headquarters in Switzerland. It’s believed that more than 20 existing European basketball and football clubs, including teams currently in the EuroLeague, have lodged bids for NBA Europe franchises.”
Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA and All-Star guard Luka Dončić dropped a related bombshell of his own on Friday.
Dončić posted a 17-second video across his social feeds that sent fans into a frenzy. The video shows a statue gracefully holding up a basketball. Dončić wrote, “Basketball is coming back to Rome [flame emoji].”
Lakers fans were a little on edge in the comments, considering their team only has Dončić because the Dallas Mavericks traded him on a whim in the middle of the night in February 2025. But Dončić is not leaving the Lakers to hoop in Rome.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Dončić has teamed with Donnie Nelson, a former Mavericks executive, in an ownership group that purchased Vanoli Cremona of Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A. Vanoli Cremona will relocate to Rome for next season.
“The group also announced that it has submitted a bid for the team to be Rome’s representative for NBA Europe,” McMenamin relayed.
“I have dreamed about owning a team in Europe for a long time; to finally have this happen is amazing,” Dončić said in a statement, per ESPN. “Vanoli has a great history, and we are ready to take it to the next level in Rome. We have an amazing group of partners, and I really believe we can do something special for basketball in Italy and Europe.”
Dončić grew up in Slovenia and played for Real Madrid before ascending to NBA stardom. He was the reigning EuroLeague MVP and had just led Real Madrid to the EuroLeague title when the Mavericks acquired his draft rights in June 2018.
In the NBA, Dončić has been a six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection. Despite his spectacular 2025-26 season ending abruptly due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain suffered on April 2, Dončić is the reigning NBA scoring champion - his second career league scoring title.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 3:02 PM.