Nico Mannion and Simone Fontecchio headline a strong Italy squad for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup

Former Golden State Warriors point guard Nico Mannion and Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio are headlining Italy’s 16-man roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The Italian squad, which was recently announced, also features former New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks big man Nicolo Melli.

Overall, Italy’s roster includes nine players who were part of its 2022 EuroBasket team, which fell 93-85 in overtime to France in the quarterfinals.

As for how the Italians fared at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, they finished in 10th place. However, they still finished with a winning record of 3-2 over five tournament games.

For more on Italy’s 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster, click here.

Nico Mannion relishes opportunity to prove himself in NBA Summer League

Nico Mannion playing for the Milwaukee Bucks during NBA Summer League

Nico Mannion rose to fame in high school as an internet sensation starting in the ninth grade. His highlight plays then continued to go viral for years. Coming out of high school, Mannion was the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, a McDonald’s All-American and a five-star recruit. He then attended the University of Arizona for one season, where he was selected to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Freshman Team. The star point guard was originally projected to be an NBA lottery pick, however, things didn’t go as planned for Mannion.

Mannion fell all the way to No. 48 in the 2020 NBA draft and went on to play just 30 games with the Golden State Warriors in the 2020-21 season. He then headed overseas, signing a two-year deal with Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A, which lasted from 2021 to 2023. Mannion followed that up by signing a two-year deal with Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague earlier this summer. However, the 22-year-old point guard has not given up on his NBA dream.

Despite already signing a new contract overseas, Mannion took the opportunity to suit up for the Milwaukee Bucks in this year’s NBA Summer League. Mannion said that he did so to prove that he still belongs on the NBA roster.

“(I want) to prove that I belong, prove that I can help a team win games coming in and just be a good addition, that’s the main thing,” Mannion said.

“I think people know my character … that’s not really in question anymore and I think the main thing is just getting on the floor and showing that I can help a team win games.”

Mannion added that his game has changed a lot since playing in Europe. He said that the main reasons for this are that he was forced to put on extra weight and adapt to a different style of play.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just showing my physicality … going over to Europe putting on some weight — I think that was a knock on me when I came out of college,” Mannion said.

“Just being a point guard, being able to get my teammates involved and run a team … not turn the ball over and kind of keep that lead where it’s at in those minutes.”

Mannion struggled with his shot in Summer League, however, he was still able to offer the Bucks solid production. Mannion averaged 8.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 27.8% shooting over three games.

The Golden State Warriors recently extended a qualifying offer to Mannion, making him a restricted free agent. So, the Warriors still hold his rights if he opts to continue pursuing his NBA career.