BC Roma adds Bryan Colangelo and Mike D’Antoni to front office ahead of EuroCup season

Rome is watching BC Roma, also known as Roma SPQR, prepare for its debut season in the BKT EuroCup and LBA UnipolSai with enormous ambition. According to Italy’s La Prealpina, the capital club has reached an agreement with former NBA general manager Bryan Colangelo, bringing him into an advisory role for the ownership group; simultaneously, legendary strategist Mike D’Antoni is being brought into the board of directors. A new team often starts by signing players, but BC Roma has chosen to build from the top with elite-level leadership. In reality, BC Roma’s ambition lies in creating a stable structure right away as it enters two major competitions. The EuroCup is the direct path to the Euroleague, while LBA UnipolSai is the Italian national league. The team needs an operation that understands the rules, develops the roster and handles relationships with international players. More than almost anyone, Colangelo and D’Antoni fit that requirement. Bryan Colangelo previously served as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers, meaning he has worked in several different NBA models. With BC Roma, he will not manage the team day-to-day; instead, he will serve as a strategic adviser to the ownership group while representing the club at official meetings. Giving such an external role to a former NBA executive signals that BC Roma wants a voice at the federation and league levels, not just status as a newly promoted club. The 61-year-old executive also has a genuine link to Italy. He holds a minority stake in the Italian football club Cagliari alongside longtime associate Edoardo Bulgheroni, which helps him understand Italy’s sporting culture. That is a major advantage for BC Roma when navigating local issues, from branding to relations with the city and supporters. Mike D’Antoni will add basketball intelligence to the board. The coach, recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is one of the people who changed modern basketball. His run-and-gun philosophy made the Phoenix Suns one of the most popular NBA teams in the early 2000s. Coaching experience at the highest level and tactical vision make him a valuable asset for a club trying to prove itself in Europe. What makes this move special is D’Antoni’s connection to Italian basketball. Before making his mark in the NBA, he enjoyed a memorable playing and coaching career at Olimpia Milano. Having an icon of Italian basketball’s golden generation serve on the BC Roma board helps the club connect quickly with the country’s hoops tradition, while giving the brand a more international image. On the court, BC Roma is not standing still. The club recently held the unveiling of guard Nico Mannion, a familiar name for Italian basketball fans. Mannion played for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA before returning to Europe. According to the report, he signed after motivational conversations with superstar Luka Doncic, and those words helped him decide to join Roma. Mannion is an important piece in head coach Alessandro Magro’s plan. The two are expected to create a team with speed, skill and energy, matching the philosophy pursued by the front office. BC Roma will certainly add more pieces, but with names like Colangelo and D’Antoni behind the scenes, the club can approach the player market from an entirely different level. Looking at how BC Roma is operating, it is clear that the European basketball club model is changing. Top teams are no longer competing only on the court; they are also competing for personnel with NBA experience. The names of Colangelo and D’Antoni come with networks and real knowledge of building an organization from the ground up. For BC Roma, that is a more important first step than any single player signing at this stage. From a basketball observer’s perspective, BC Roma does not need to rush toward becoming a champion immediately. They are investing in a sustainable process. Teams that climb from lower divisions or start anew often lack front-office experience, leading to transfer mistakes and internal instability. Roma is choosing the opposite approach: bringing in people who have been through NBA battles to sit at the command table. The first season of BC Roma in the BKT EuroCup and LBA UnipolSai will test the whole structure. But by looking at the front-office additions, one can already say that the capital club is ready for a long-term game. A new team in Rome, with an American operator behind the scenes and an Italian basketball icon on the board, is sending a clear message to Europe: they have arrived to rewrite the story.