NBA chief Adam Silver excited to strengthen links with Gulf following Abu Dhabi Games

Following a successful third staging of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games, top management in the league are looking to strengthen the relationship between the NBA and the Gulf region.

The last two NBA champions, the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets, squared off in two preseason games at Etihad Arena last week, as part of a wider six-day visit that included a host of community events, clinics, grassroots initiatives, and entertainment activations organised by the NBA in collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi.

The UAE capital has established itself as a hub for world-class basketball in the region, having attracted top NBA teams, as well as national sides like USA, Serbia, and Australia, who have all come to Abu Dhabi to hold training camps and compete in exhibition games over the past two years.

It’s all thanks to a multi-year deal signed between DCT Abu Dhabi and the NBA, whose commissioner Adam Silver believes the agreement is only just the start for the league in this part of the world.

“We're particularly excited about, not just the opportunity here in Abu Dhabi, but the Gulf region generally,” Silver said during a roundtable discussion at Etihad Arena last week.

“We're seeing rapid growth here, and it's our hope that we not only continue playing games here in Abu Dhabi, but we play in other countries in the Gulf region, and ultimately bring over WNBA games as well. That's something we'd like to see here.”

Silver chose to defer the revelation of any concrete plans to his counterpart Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the WNBA, but says the interest is certainly there from Abu Dhabi as hosts.

The WNBA’s popularity has exploded in North America this year with the advent of star rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, which is something the league wants to capitalise on.

“We've been in discussions with our hosts here in the past. There's no question there's interest in bringing a WNBA game as well,” said Silver.

“It's fascinating for me because we've been working on the WNBA – it’s in its 28th season, so it may not be quite the overnight sensation that it appears to be, but nevertheless, it's remarkable to see the spike in interest we're experiencing now.

“Which I think it's in part, of course, with this rookie class of tremendous players, led by Caitlin Clark. But in addition, it's a larger movement that we're seeing in women's sports. We certainly saw it in Paris at the Olympics. We're seeing it in football, in tennis and volleyball, many other sports. It’s long overdue.

“I will leave it to Commissioner Engelbert to work through the issues on behalf of the WNBA with her players as well. But it's certainly something I would love to see happen.”

The NBA brought its Her Time to Play programme to Abu Dhabi last week, where 130 girls aged between 11 and 14 were coached by the likes of two-time WNBA champion Sylvia Fowles and former WNBA All-Star Allison Feaster.

Silver says that overall, through their Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA programmes on the ground throughout the week, they connected with 7,000 kids, and also held workshops for 450 coaches coming from inside and outside the UAE.

According to figures released by the NBA, the Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League has reached more than 11,000 boys and girls since 2022.

Since the inaugural NBA Abu Dhabi Games in 2022, NBA fandom in the Middle East has reportedly grown by more than 25 per cent and basketball participation has grown by 60 per cent in the UAE and by more than 50 per cent in the Middle East.

These numbers are making a compelling case for the NBA to launch an academy in Abu Dhabi, similar to those already established in Australia, Mexico and Senegal.

Khaman Maluach is the latest success story to come out of the NBA Academy in Saly, Senegal. The 18-year-old was recruited by Duke University, where he just started his freshman year, and has been ranked by ESPN as the third-best prospect in the 2025 NBA draft.

Maluach represented South Sudan at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“We’re looking at focusing on some elite training here,” said Silver. "Abu Dhabi has become a sports and entertainment hub for the whole region and we see an opportunity, potentially, with an elite academy here to bring in young people from the region, broadly described – maybe as far away as India, as far away as Africa as well – and take some of the best youth players and bring them here to train together and to develop to play at the highest levels for their national teams, and potentially in professional competition as well.”