Dubai Basketball are set to make history as the first team from the UAE to compete in a leading European basketball league. The newly formed club, also referred to as Dubai BC, are taking part in the 2024/25 ABA League – the top-tier basketball competition for teams from the former Yugoslavia.
Ahead of the historic first game of their inaugural season against defending champions Red Star from Serbia, here is everything you need to know about Dubai BC.
What is Dubai Basketball?
Dubai BC is a new professional basketball team who will compete in the ABA League for the next three seasons. The team was founded by Abdulla Saeed Al Naboodah, the former chairman of Al Ahli Football Club (now Shabab Al Ahli), and Dejan Kamenjasevic, who will work as the club's general manager. Salem bin Dasmal – a prominent businessman and former national tennis champion – has been appointed as chief executive.
Dubai BC will play their home games at the Coca-Cola Arena.
What is the ABA League?
The ABA League is the leading professional basketball league for teams from the former Yugoslavia. The 2024/25 season has been expanded to 16 teams and includes clubs from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro.
It has been a breeding ground for many NBA players from the Balkan region, including Serbia's three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, former NBA All-Star Goran Dragic (Slovenia), Phoenix Suns centre Jusuf Nurkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia).
The new season will comprise 30 regular season games, with the top eight advancing to the play-offs and the bottom team consigned to relegation to the ABA League Second Division. The second-bottom side will play a qualification against the Second Division finalists to avoid demotion.
The play-off quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played in a best-of-three series, with the finals decided in a best of five.
What is the Dubai Basketball roster?
Dubai BC have assembled a 12-player squad representing nine countries: Serbia, USA, Italy, Latvia, Turkey, Jordan, Croatia, the Philippines, and Slovenia.
Dubai BC roster: Klemen Prepelic, captain (shooting guard, Slovenia), Davis Bertans (power forward, Latvia), Leon Radosevic (centre, Serbia), Awudu Abass (small forward, Italy), Nate Mason (point guard, USA), Ahmet Duverioglu (centre, Jordan-Turkey), JaCorey Williams (power forward, USA), Nemanja Dangubic (small forward, Serbia), Danilo Andusic (shooting guard, Serbia), Aleksa Uskokovic (point guard, Serbia), Bora Yasar (centre, Turkey), Thirdy Ravena (Philippines, shooting guard).
Dubai Basketball fixtures
Dubai BC's first game will be against defending regular and post-season champions Red Star on September 22 at Coca-Cola Arena. The regular season will be played until May 2-5 followed by the play-off quarter-finals from May 9. The finals are scheduled to begin on June 6.
How to get tickets
Tickets to watch Dubai BC's season-opener are available from the Coca-Cola Arena website with prices starting from Dh75. Season passes can also be purchased, starting at Dh1,750, which includes reserved seating for all 15 regular season home games.
Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
6am: Marathon Elites
7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
Company%20profile
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Disturbing%20facts%20and%20figures
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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The%20specs
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Company%20profile
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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AL%20BOOM
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
Superpower%20
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TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
NEW%20UTILITY%20POLICY%3A%20WHAT%20DOES%20IT%20REGULATE%3F
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The%20Specs%20
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Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
