A Dubai team stacked with European stars and former NBA players are about to begin their first season competing against the continent’s basketball elite.
The EuroLeague is basketball’s Champions League, featuring giants of the sport including Spanish duo Real Madrid and FC Barcelona – both as accomplished on the court as they are on the football pitch – and 2025 champions Fenerbahce of Turkey.
And Dubai Basketball, in just its second season, will be aiming to establish themselves in what is widely considered the world’s second-best pro basketball league.
Dubai won 25 of their 30 games in the Adriatic region’s ABA League last season, their first in existence. They finished third in the league before losing in a best-of-three play-off semi-final series to Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.
It was enough to earn a five-year EuroLeague contract as one of two new teams following the league’s expansion from 18 to 20 teams.
Again led by Croatian coach Jurica Golemac, Dubai have retooled around its strong core of players, recruiting a cast of established EuroLeague players, international stars and players recognisable to fans of US basketball.
Former NBA guard McKinley Wright IV will team up with returning American Nate Mason in the backcourt. Dwayne Bacon and Justin Anderson, two former NBA wings, join returning Davis Bertans, the Latvian sharpshooter and veteran of eight NBA seasons.
And Wright, brought in from the ABA’s Buducnost in Montenegro, said the bright lights of Dubai could act as a springboard for those who want to return to the world’s top basketball league.
But the appeal of the emirate, as both a sporting city and desirable place to live, means he and his teammates must remain at the top of their games to keep their spots, he said.
“Of course it will [help players return to the NBA],” said the point guard. “We are playing in Dubai, so, automatically we get a lot of attention.
“There are a lot of people that want to be in our shoes, so we have got to have our hard hats on every night. We have got to be ready to fight every night because there are a lot of people who want to be here.
“So for me, my job is not to let my spot up and I want to be here as well, so I'm going to do whatever I have to make sure I'm solidified here and I make sure I'm staying here.”
From 2021 to 2023, Wright played for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, as well as teams in its minor league, the G League, earning two-way contracts which allows players to split time between the two competitions.
Wright said he has not given up on one day returning to the NBA – but only for a guaranteed contract. “I'm not chasing it, but if it happens, it happens,” he said.
“At this point, I'm just excited to be playing basketball and playing a game that I love at a high level, which is in the EuroLeague right now.
“So, if the opportunity comes back, then it comes back. But for me, I'm looking for guarantees and I don't want to go back to the NBA for a two-way contract. For me there is no point, so if it's not a guarantee, then no.
“Right now, I'm really satisfied with where I am, and I look forward to being here for as long I'm here.”
The ambitious club was formed in 2023 by Emirati businessman Abdullah Saeed Juma Al Naboodah and Dejan Kamenjasevic, a Bosnian veteran of European basketball who is now the team’s general manager.
Fittingly, last season’s conquerors Partizan will travel to the emirate on Tuesday to provide the club’s first opponents in the competition. Dubai’s first ABA game is against Croatian team Split on Monday, October 6.
Serbian national team star Aleksa Avramovic has arrived from CSKA Moscow, though he may have to wait for his first game for Dubai due to injury.
He joins international teammate Nemanja Dangubic, a former NBA second-round draft pick who spent last season with Dubai after previously playing for Partizan as well as Bayern Munich.
A veteran of European basketball, Dangubic said Dubai will need their reinforcements to come out firing if they are to compete in the EuroLeague.
“The ABA League is very good, and this year I think it’s even stronger with a few more teams added,” said the 2.04m forward. “But the EuroLeague is another level. It’s the highest level in Europe.
“The players are more skilful, more physical, taller and stronger. You need to be ready for this and ready to respond. I think we have a team for this. The club built a team to compete against any opponent in the EuroLeague, and I think we can.”
“They’re very good players,” the 32-year-old said of the newcomers.
“No doubt, individually they’re high-level, very skilful, very experienced players who know how to play basketball. We just need a little time to adjust, to find the roles, and to become a team.”
Last season, fans packed into Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena in Yas Island to watch the EuroLeague Final Four in May, with Fenerbahce lifting the trophy after an 81-70 victory over French side Monaco, leaving Greek sides Olympiacos and Panathinaikos to contest a third-place play-off.
Last season in Dubai, fans regularly crammed more than 5,000 supporters into the Coca-Cola Arena for home games against the ABA League's top teams, attracting a total of nearly 80,000 fans.
The arena can hold as many as 15,000 fans, allowing bumper crowds when the EuroLeague’s most popular teams come to town.
And it is the prospect of those games that attracted bruising Bosnian national team centre Kenan Kamenjas, who arrived from Montenegro’s BuduCnost in the ABA League after leading his national team to the round of 16 at EuroBasket in the summer.
“I came here because of Dubai’s new project in the EuroLeague,” said the 2.07m centre. “I know the coach – I spoke with him, and he told me about the new club.
“I think I had a great season last year, and because of that, the coach and management called me. It’s an honour to be part of this team.
“This is the biggest step in my career. I hope that myself and my team can achieve good things for this club and for this city. My hope is that we can reach the top 10 playoffs in our first EuroLeague season.
“I’ve played against good players in EuroBasket, but the EuroLeague is another level. Every game is like a final. I hope to be at my maximum level every game, and I believe I can help my team.”
Kamenjas, 25,
said the team are catching up after a busy summer with national teams, but with a full pre-season under their belts, they will be ready for the opener.
“I played with [Dubai’s Bosnian guard Dzanan] Musa in the national team and with Wright at BuduCnost last season,” he said. “I didn’t play with the others, but I know them from national teams or the ABA League.
“We have all been together for only three days. We played our first game together against CSKA Moscow [in a pre-season friendly] and lost, but that was because of EuroBasket – some of our players were with national teams.
“Now we can practise every day and prepare for the first EuroLeague game against Partizan, which is historic for the club. I hope we will win and make it a big victory.”
