NBA in Abu Dhabi: A legacy that goes beyond two preseason games

Dubai teenager Anja Obradovic is dripping in sweat and out of words – she just finished a basketball clinic with players from the Milwaukee Bucks and was given a signed shirt from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I have Giannis’ shirt, I don’t even know how, he signed it. I have no words. I turned around and then the coach came and said, ‘Giannis gave you this’. I can’t believe it,” Anja told Arab News at the gym of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus, where hundreds of kids from across the UAE have taken part in clinics with NBA players and coaches over the past week.

It’s taken the NBA a long time to finally venture into the Arab world and Gulf region but its arrival to the UAE capital this week, where two preseason games between the Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks are taking place at Etihad Arena, was well worth the wait.

A multi-year deal between the NBA and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) was announced last November and with it came a promise the collaboration would be much more than just hosting two games; it would build a lasting legacy far beyond that.

The @ATLHawks visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque #NBAinAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/wHgS1pgNEW

— NBA (@NBA) October 6, 2022

A Jr. NBA UAE program was launched, which saw over 450 kids between the ages of 11 to 14 take part in a basketball league that featured 20 boys’ teams and 10 girls’. A Draft Day was organized in the presence of Portland Trail Blazers legend Clyde Drexler as the children found out which teams – named after actual NBA franchises – they landed in.

Season two will feature an expanded version of the league, with 60 teams from Abu Dhabi schools set to take part.

“Every year they select one girl and one boy to go with the Elite team to the Jr. NBA