LAUREL D'ANTONI

Laurel D’Antoni was born in San Diego, California and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She attended the University of Washington where she majored in Communications and was recruited as a fashion model.

While working in Milan, Italy she met her husband Mike, who was a professional basketball player. Laurel left the fashion world to work in the sports and television world.

She hosted a weekly segment on Italian National TV called “Pianeta Donna” which covered the Italian Women’s Professional Basketball League, Handicap Basketball and human interest stories. She was later hired to work in marketing and game operations for the Milan Basketball team and the Benetton Treviso Basketball team.

She formed her own consulting company in sports management, and worked for the International Olympic Committee, FIBA, the Italian Federation, and the NBA for their international events, McDonald Championships, and All Star Games. She was President of the Americans in Milan and co-founded the International Women’s Group of Treviso. After 17 years in Italy, she moved when her husband was hired to coach in the NBA. After closing her company, she moved with him to Denver, Portland, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, West Virginia, Philadelphia and now Houston.

Laurel created the Houston Rockets Women’s Organization, whose main priority is to work with the families of the Houston Rockets Basketball Operations department and help the new families integrate into Houston and get involved in the community.

As a result of her husband’s job, she has dedicated her time to leveraging sports to bring visibility to those who may need a voice. She has chaired many events for non-profits in the cities they have lived and has been recognized for her volunteer activities. In Houston, she has been involved with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, SBP Disaster Recovery Agency, Career Gear Houston, SEARCH Homeless, Homemade Hope, the East Harris County Empowerment Council and the MS Society.

Her biggest joy is being wife to an amazing man and mother to their 25-year-old son Michael, who works in Austin, Texas.