His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, has met with the National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver ahead of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 series taking place at Etihad Arena, as part of the multi-year partnership between Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi (DCT-Abu Dhabi) and the NBA.
His Highness also attended a practice session and met with NBA star players from the 2021 NBA championship-winning team, the Milwaukee Bucks, who are taking on the Atlanta Hawks in two pre-season games. His Highness was accompanied by His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT-Abu Dhabi, His Excellency Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, Undersecretary, DCT-Abu Dhabi, His Excellency Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism, DCT-Abu Dhabi, and Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The landmark series marks the first NBA games to take place in the GCC, and highlights Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading tourism destination and a hub for world-class sports events.
Signed in November 2021, the partnership agreement between DCT-Abu Dhabi and the NBA has seen the launch of the Junior NBA Abu Dhabi League, a youth basketball league for 450 boys and girls aged 11-14 from 30 schools across Abu Dhabi, as well as an NBA 2K League exhibition event. A series of NBA Fit Clinics promoting health and wellness are also in the pipeline. Under the terms of the partnership, DCT-Abu Dhabi, under the Visit Abu Dhabi initiative, serves as the Official Tourism Destination Partner of the NBA in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and China
