Dubai Basketball is a professional basketball club based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The team competes in the
ABA League
The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...
and the
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
. The club plays its home games at the
Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
History
Dubai Basketball was founded by
Abdulla Saeed Juma Al Naboodah and
Dejan Kamenjašević in 2023 as the first home franchise team based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In January 2024, the ABA League confirmed Dubai Basketball's inclusion for a three-season term starting in the 2024–25 season.
On 19 March 2024, the
ABA League
The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...
officially announced BC Dubai would join the league for the next three seasons, starting from 2024.
Jurica Golemac
Jurica Golemac (born 29 May 1977) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player currently serving as head coach for Dubai Basketball in the ABA League. He played at both the forward and center positions.
Professional career
I ...
was signed as the team's first head
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
, while
Nate Mason was the first officially signed player for the team.
Dāvis Bertāns
Dāvis Bertāns (born 12 November 1992) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Dubai Basketball of the ABA League. Nicknamed the "Latvian Laser", he also represents the Latvian national team. He was the 42nd pick in the 2011 NBA draft ...
also became the first former
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player to defect from that league to play for Dubai instead. Later in the summer, Dubai BC announced that the 17,000 seater
Coca-Cola Arena would serve as the team's home arena.
In their first ABA game, on September 22, 2024, Dubai defeated
Red Star Belgrade
Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...
at home. and Partizan, Zadar and Cedevita Olimpija amongst others in the 24/25 season, securing a place in the play offs scheduled for May 2025
The club’s entry into the ABA League was part of an initiative to develop basketball in the region.
Current roster