Former Knicks Star Closer to Olympic Dreams

"Congratulazioni" are in store for former New York Knicks star Donte DiVincenzo.

The Knicks' single-season three-point king and current Minnesota Timberwolf has landed a spot on the Italian men's national basketball team's preliminary roster for the upcoming EuroBasket competition. This comes after DiVincenzo landed Italian citizenship, a happening confirmed by national government.

DiVincenzo, who spent one memorable season in New York, has long-professed his intention to suit up for Italy's national team, which is seeking its first EuroBasket medal since a bronze in 2003. Italy is also seeking to return to the Olympic Games after missing out on the 2024 edition in Paris.

"It’s something I told my family, my agent, that I wanted to do, to be able to represent a country," DiVincenzo told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post in 2024. "Hopefully, I can get all the paperwork done and be out there as soon as possible.”

DiVincenzo is commonly referred to as "The Big Ragu," a moniker bestowed by Fox Sports announcer Gus Johnson in reference to the late Eddie Mekka's Italian-American character from the sitcom "Laverne & Shirley." His Italian heritage and reliable three-point shooting earned him a sizable following in Manhattan, where he became the Knicks' all-time leader in single-season three-pointers (283) while working with former Villanova classmates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.

DiVincenzo now resides in Minneapolis after he and Julius Randle were sent to the Midwest in the Knicks' gambit for Karl-Anthony Towns. He averaged 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in his first season with the Wolves, which ended in the Western Conference Finals.

The 2025 EuroBasket competition will be staged from Aug. 27 through Sept. 14 in Cyprus, Finland, Latvia, and Poland. Italy is stationed in Group C with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, and Spain.

DiVincenzo is one of two active NBA men on the preliminary Italian roster, joined by Simone Fontecchio of the Miami Heat.