“We are particularly excited about the opportunity, not just in Abu Dhabi, but in the Gulf region generally,” Silver told reporters in the capital ahead of Friday’s briefing. “We have a long history in this market, broadcasting sports for almost 35 years.
“This game is probably 100 years old here in the Middle East… Today, we are the second most popular sport after football and the fastest growing sport in the world in terms of basketball.
“One of the things we’re particularly excited about is the dramatic increase we’re seeing in girls and young women playing. I was at the Abu Dhabi campus of NYU (New York University), where we have a program called ‘Every Time to Play’.
“We had about 130 girls aged 11-14… The program had two components; About an hour was spent with these players talking about sports values, life skills, the importance of hard work and respect for the game, dedication to their craft and then an hour on the court in the context of a basketball experience.
“This past week we have had the opportunity to connect with over 7,000 kids with our on-the-ground basketball through the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA programs. It includes 450 coaches, some based here, some who have traveled here for the basketball portion of the experience.
“From our perspective, it’s been very successful so far.”
The relationship between the NBA and the Middle East has grown stronger. In addition to the NBA Abu Dhabi Games, Jr. NBA/WNBA and NBA Basketball Schools programs have been established, while UAE airline Emirates has been named Global Airline Partner of the NBA and Title Partner of the Emirates NBA Cup.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum was confident this was just the beginning.
He said: “I think the number of partnerships you are going to see in this area will increase. Emirates is our partner in the new NBA Cup, they have been a very good partner in this area.
“We have partnered with Qatar Foundation to run the Junior NBA programme, a grassroots program for boys and girls in Qatar. beIN has been our long-standing media partner across the Middle East and North Africa.
“I think the partnerships we are developing here, local companies Aldar, ADQ are also investing in basketball. I think it will continue to grow over the next five years.”
Increasing sporting and training opportunities was also a major topic for Commissioner Silver. He hoped to take advantage of Abu Dhabi’s status as “a sports and entertainment hub for the entire region”, potentially bringing an elite academy to the UAE.
He said: “We are focusing on some specific training here. As Abu Dhabi becomes a sports and entertainment hub for the entire region, we see an opportunity to potentially bring the region’s youth here with an elite academy, which has been widely described as… and some The best young players will be brought here to train together. , to develop to play at the highest level for their national teams and potentially in professional competition.
It’s not just the huge footprint of NBA superstars that has been felt in Abu Dhabi. Participation in the Junior NBA/WNBA leagues has grown rapidly throughout the UAE, with Tatum being particularly proud of their growth.
He said: “I think the main lesson is that if you invest in the community, invest in giving kids the opportunity to play the game of basketball, you will see a tremendous impact.
“It’s part of the partnership. When we first sat down with Abu Dhabi, it was not just about the Games, it was about the activities that we would create around the Games.
“They thought it was a good thing to get more kids active by playing the game of basketball. That’s why we started creating a Jr. NBA program for boys and girls in that first year.
“Participation in the UAE has increased by 60 percent, from 90 last year to 120 Junior NBA leagues this year. These are things for governments around the world, Abu Dhabi is saying ‘this is a good thing for us’.