Inclusion of Dubai Basketball in ABA League is a ‘great thing’ for UAE sport, says legend Jokic

• ‘Basketball should, needs to be much more extended,’ he says

DUBAI: Three-time NBA’s Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic has described the formation of Dubai Basketball and its inclusion in the Adriatic Basketball Association League as a “great thing” for the sport in the Emirates.

Founded in 2023 by the UAE’s Abdulla Saeed Al Naboodah, Dubai Basketball is a newly established professional basketball franchise that is competing in Europe’s ABA for the 2024-2025 season.

Featuring a strong roster of players representing many different countries, including the Philippines, Turkiye, the US, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Jordan, Turkey, Latvia and Italy, Dubai Basketball have enjoyed an impressive debut in the league, with two wins in as many games so far.

Their upcoming test is a home clash at Coca-Cola Arena on Saturday against Serbian side Mega MIS, which is where Jokic began his professional career, spending three seasons there before getting drafted by the Denver Nuggets.

Jokic, who is in the UAE this week with the Nuggets for the NBA Abu Dhabi Games, has heard nothing but good things about Dubai Basketball.

“To be honest I think it’s a great thing for the country and for basketball,” the 2022-2023 NBA champion told reporters at the Etihad Arena on Thursday.

“I think basketball should and needs to be much more extended.

“I have a couple of friends that play in Dubai and they say it’s a good organization. They say everything is perfect, so hopefully they can extend basketball, even in this country.”

Jokic is in Abu Dhabi for the second time in three months, having also visited the capital with the Serbian national team during the summer ahead of their Paris Olympics campaign, which saw them claim a bronze medal.

An avid fan of horse racing and owner of several horses, Jokic was asked if he will be checking out the equestrian scene in the UAE.

He said: “I want to see the horses, because that’s where the horses are best, probably. I think I don’t have time to be honest, but maybe one time.”

Despite a shortened offseason due to his Olympic commitments, Jokic is optimistic about his fitness levels entering the new NBA season.

He said: “We will see. I think the last time I played with the national team we won the championship, so that doesn’t really affect my stamina.

“Maybe I’ll be even in better shape. We’ll see when the season starts, or maybe when the season ends.”

After winning the first NBA championship in the Denver Nuggets’ 47-year franchise history in 2023, Jokic and his teammates crashed out of the playoffs the following season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jokic said that the early exit has had “zero” effect on his motivation levels for this upcoming season — adding “last year doesn’t motivate me”  —  and explained the challenge of trying to successfully defend an NBA title, something not witnessed since the Golden State Warriors went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

The 29-year-old Serb said: “They always say it’s really tough to win a championship again, but I think it’s really tough to win a championship anyhow.

“After going through so many emotions, after winning a championship … it seemed like we didn’t have a break, it just felt longer, and maybe we were tired, maybe we were not.

“I think that you should just enjoy winning the championship because most really good teams never won a championship, so I think we’re supposed to be happy that we won a championship and everything else is just extra.”

Denver Nuggets will once again rely on the dynamic partnership between Jokic and Jamal Murray, but have also brought in reinforcements in the form of veteran point guard Russell Westbrook and Croatian forward/center Dario Saric.

Westbrook, who is a former NBA MVP and nine-time All-Star, has been energetic and vocal in practice so far with the Nuggets, and brings a wealth of experience and leadership skills with him from the 16 previous seasons he has played in the league.

“He’s always positive, a great teammate, on the court, off the court,” Jokic said of Westbrook. “He has been nothing but perfect right now, so hopefully he’s going to do the same thing the whole season.”

The Nuggets face reigning NBA champions the Boston Celtics in two preseason games at Etihad Arena, Yas Island, on Oct. 4 and 6, in what is the third edition of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games.