Coca-Cola Arena’s capacity crowd was overflowing with energy for 48 straight minutes of play, as Dubai’s first professional basketball franchise secured an epic 86-84 victory against reigning champions, Crvena Zvezda, of Serbia — in Dubai’s first ABA League game.

Dubai Basketball, the newly established professional basketball franchise, could not have asked for a better start to their inaugural ABA League season, securing their first competitive win against defending champions, Crvena Zvezda, in front of a sold-out crowd at Coca-Cola Arena on Sunday night.

Fans from all over the world — expats & locals, young & old — celebrated their new home-team, as Dubai Basketball made history by becoming the first UAE team to play in Europe’s ABA League. Their passion and support erupted in a vibrant, action-filled atmosphere in the thrilling season-opener, years in the making. With a team-first mentality that was palpable from tip-off to the final buzzer, Dubai Basketball shocked the world with an 86-84 upset over the heavily favoured Crvena Zvezda ‘Red Star.’ 

Although Crvena Zvezda scored the first points of the game, it would mark the only time the visitors held a lead, as Dubai dominated the pace, closing out the first quarter with a commanding 25-16 lead, marked by a half-court Q1 buzzer-beater that sent the crowd into a frenzy.  

The competition heated up in the second half, as Crvena Zvezda made a furious comeback push that brought the game within two points, with only a few ticks of the game clock remaining. But stellar defence in critical moments, along with game-changing buckets in the clutch by Nate Mason (18pts), Awudu Abass (17) and team Captain, Klemen Prepelic (16), sealed off the opening-night win for Dubai Basketball.

Jurica Golemac, Head Coach of Dubai Basketball, described the result as a “dream come true,” and had nothing but praise for his players. 

He said: “All the credit goes to the organisation and all the players who gave everything in this game. They really battled hard on the court, and we showed our character, and we won the game.  I really want to congratulate the fans as they came in large numbers and gave us a lot of energy and I hope more fans will continue to come to Coca-Cola Arena during the season as it’s going to be very hard to beat us here if they are here in large numbers. I am sure this is the start of something beautiful.”