Joe David didn’t know what he would be walking into when he took on what figured to be an interesting side venture last year. It led to something that could be extraordinary. Or exasperating. Possibly both.
The longtime Mt. Lebanon High School boys basketball coach is now calling on his experience in the sport, his experience as a business owner, his general life experience and some hard work as the president and majority shareholder of Pistoia 2000, a basketball team in the top pro league in Italy, Lega Basket Serie A.
“It was just something I thought would be interesting, kind of fun to do,” David said of becoming a long-distance co-owner, board member and adviser in 2024. “But as it stands now, it’s a lot of responsibility. It’s a lot of work right now until I get things situated and fixed.”
The 2024-25 season went south. The team was losing games and bleeding money. The wildly zealous fans in the picturesque town in Tuscany were in an uproar. The longtime friend who got David into the venture, former Beaver Falls star basketball player Ron Rowan, was ousted as president.
While spending most of March in Pistoia after Lebo lost in the state tournament, David took over as team president late in the season. His mission: Keep the team from folding. It was that dire.
It figures to be daunting but potentially highly rewarding.
“You’re in charge of everybody as far as staff — general manager, marketing, finance, youth groups, you name it,” said David, who was received warmly when he took over the team. People in Pistoia showered him with “Presidente, presidente!” when he walked down the street. He met with corporate sponsors, the mayor of Pistoia, the president of Tuscany.
David will make more trips to Pistoia when he can, but he will operate the club remotely once the Lebo season starts again, with a big assist from technology and his fellow team board members.
David, who starred in high school with Upper St. Clair and later at Pitt, has led Lebo to three WPIAL titles. He also owns David Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Center, with a longtime presence in Lebo on Castle Shannon Boulevard and now also in Southpointe.
“All four of my children have their doctorates in physical therapy, so they’re all holding the fort down,” he said of his business.
David’s willingness to take over the Pistoia team stemmed from wanting to protect his investment on the practical side, but also from genuinely wanting to keep the team going from an emotional standpoint.
He seems to have fallen in love with the town, the people and the storied team.
If the name seems familiar, it could be because Pistoia is well chronicled as being a big part of the childhood of late NBA star Kobe Bryant, who spent part of his youth there when his father played for the team. Kobe learned Italian, grew close with the people and now is commemorated with a special seat in Pistoia’s arena.
David loves the team’s setting, not far from Florence.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said of Pistoia. “The city sits just below the mountains. It’s a beautiful town. Very, very traditional and not touristy at all. You go to restaurants, and you hope they know a little English, and a lot of times they don’t. The food is awfully good, that’s for sure.”
He also loves the culture surrounding the team. “The passion of their fans is unrivaled. It’s crazy to watch and see,” said David, who got an eyeful when he traveled to a road game. “We played in Trento up in the mountains in northern Italy. We lost, I think, by 20. Our fans were there, maybe 60 to 100 fans. They chanted the entire game and after the game. (The players) went in and got dressed for the bus ride back, and they were still chanting in the stands. That’s how much they love their team.
“There’s a big sign that hangs in our gym (that translates to), ‘In Pistoia, you may score more points than us, but you’ll never win.’”
As per league rules, Pistoia can have a mix of Italian and foreign players, in this case Americans. The 2024-25 team had a few former NBA and high-level college players.
The season is just 30 games, played once a week on Sundays.
Taking Pistoia from the brink of folding to being stable and perhaps thriving won’t be easy. It’s what would be considered a small-market team in its league — the population is less than 100,000 — competing against teams such as Milan, whose main sponsor is Giorgio Armani and whose team also plays in the Euro League.
“The main reason is just the people of Pistoia are so wonderful,” David said of his decision to take over the team. “I didn’t want their team to be gone, and that’s what would have happened.
“Right now it’s also the challenge. I love challenges. I love pushing myself into uncomfortable situations. I think that’s where you grow. It’s too easy just to walk away. I didn’t want to do that.”