Donte DiVincenzo-Italbasket, Gianni Petrucci speaks out.

Gianni Petrucci has no doubts about Donte DiVincenzo

The odds that Donte DiVincenzo will wear the Italian national basketball team’s jersey at Eurobasket 2025 seem to be quite high: è this is what transpires from the words of Gianni Petrucci, FIP president, to 'La Repubblica'. The Minnesota Timberwolves player will meet in the coming days with coach Gianmarco Pozzecco and the head of the Azzurri delegation, Gigi Datome, with the aim of avoiding a new "Banchero" case.

"DiVincenzo wants to play for Italy. Once the NBA season is over, he will come to Italy to get his passport" assured the top executive of Italian basketball, who does not seem to be worried by what happened with Paolo Banchero, who pledged to the Italian national team before choosing that of the United States.

"If after his promises he chose the U.S. national team with the Olympics in mind, I don’t feel responsible. Who then, in Paris, didn’t even è go there" commented Petrucci just talking about Banchero, who with Team USA competed in the 2023 World Cup, getting a disappointing fourth place behind Germany, Serbia and Canada.

DiVincenzo, class of 1997, è is currently under contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a franchise reached on the eve of the 2024-2025 season after a three-way trade between the Wolves, the New York Knicks (where he played the previous season) and the Charlotte Hornets. In his career he won two NCAA titles with Villanova and an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks, although he did not play in the 2021 Finals due to injury.