For four months, while the rest of the Gulf's sporting calendar was being torn apart by regional disruption, a basketball franchise that did not exist three years ago packed its bags, relocated 4,000 kilometres to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and played its home games in Sarajevo and Zenica in front of crowds who barely knew its name. They lost their arena. They lost their fans. They lost the pre-game buzz along Al Wasl and the 15,000-seat atmosphere at Coca-Cola Arena that had become one of the most electric venues in European basketball.
They did not lose a series.
On Friday night in Zenica, Dubai Basketball beat Buducnost VOLI 103-77 in the decisive third game of their ABA League semi-final to reach the Finals for the first time in the club's history. They are the first UAE-based team to compete in the championship series of a European basketball league. They did it in their second season in the competition. And on Thursday night, they come home to do it again.
The ABA League confirmed today that Games 1 and 2 of the Finals will be played at Coca-Cola Arena on June 4 and 6, with tip-off at 8:00 PM local time. After all security guarantees provided by the UAE were reviewed and accepted, Dubai Basketball will host Partizan Belgrade, one of the most storied clubs in European basketball, on home soil for the first time in four months. Game 3 moves to Belgrade Arena on June 10. The series is best-of-five. Partizan are chasing a record ninth ABA League title. Dubai are chasing their first.
The semi-final against Buducnost told the story of this team's character. Dubai won Game 1 in Zenica 104-90, a commanding performance played 4,000 kilometres from home against a Montenegrin club with decades of European pedigree. Then they travelled to Podgorica for Game 2 and lost, the series levelled at 1-1, the decisive game back in Zenica where the arena was neutral at best and hostile at worst. The response was emphatic. A 26-point victory. One hundred and three points scored with the composure of a team that has spent the entire season proving it belongs at this level.
Head coach Aleksander Sekulic captured the moment in his post-match press conference. "First of all, a big thanks to the fans in Zenica who supported us in a very important game, a historical game for the club," he said. "After Game 2, we knew that Buducnost is the team that will come with aggression. We needed to match that, and we did." The players celebrated on a court that was never supposed to be theirs, in a city they had adopted by necessity, knowing that the next time they take the floor in a competitive match it will be in front of their own supporters at Coca-Cola Arena.
The homecoming carries a weight that extends beyond basketball. Dubai Basketball were forced to relocate in February when regional disruption made it impossible to host European competition in the UAE. The EuroLeague and ABA League coordinated with the club to find temporary venues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the team adapted with a professionalism that belied the chaos surrounding the move. They played "home" matches in Sarajevo's Zetra Arena and Zenica's Bilino Polje arena. They beat Baskonia 100-94 and Crvena Zvezda 114-91 in EuroLeague matches played on borrowed courts. They won their ABA League quarter-final. They won their semi-final. The relocation was supposed to be a disadvantage. Dubai Basketball turned it into a narrative.
The opponent in the Finals could hardly be more daunting. Partizan Belgrade are eight-time ABA League champions, the most successful club in the competition's history. Their Belgrade Arena holds 18,386 and generates one of the most intimidating atmospheres in European sport. Their fans, the Grobari, are among the loudest and most passionate supporter groups on the continent. If the series goes to a Game 3, 4, or 5 in Belgrade, Dubai Basketball will face an environment unlike anything they have experienced.
But Games 1 and 2 are in Dubai. And that matters enormously. Coca-Cola Arena was a fortress before the relocation. The 15,000-seat venue on the edge of City Walk became, over the course of the EuroLeague and ABA League seasons, one of the most talked-about home courts in European basketball. Visiting coaches and players spoke about the energy generated by a crowd discovering elite basketball for the first time. The novelty has not worn off. If anything, four months of absence will have sharpened the appetite.
Dejan Kamenasevic, the club's co-CEO and co-founder, said it plainly: "We are delighted to bring these Finals games back to Dubai. This is a historic moment, and our fans deserve to be part of it." Registration for tickets opened today on the club's website under the banner "Homecoming." The word choice is deliberate. This is not just a Finals series. It is a return.
The speed of Dubai Basketball's rise remains staggering. Founded in 2023 by Abdulla Saeed Juma Al Naboodah and Kamenasevic, the club entered the ABA League in 2024 and beat Red Star Belgrade in their very first match. They reached the ABA League playoffs in their debut season before Partizan, the same club they now face in the Finals, eliminated them in the semi-finals. They secured a five-year EuroLeague licence and competed against Real Madrid, Barcelona, Olympiakos, and Fenerbahce. They won matches against all of them. Dwayne Bacon was named EuroLeague Player of the Week. The franchise went from a concept to a continental competitor in less than two years.
Now they are four months removed from their home, three wins away from a league championship, and 72 hours from the biggest night in the history of basketball in the Gulf. Partizan will arrive in Dubai with experience, pedigree, and the confidence of a club that has won this competition eight times. Dubai Basketball will arrive with the energy of a homecoming, the fearlessness of a franchise with nothing to lose, and 15,000 supporters who have been waiting since February to watch their team play.
Thursday. Coca-Cola Arena. 8:00 PM. The lights come on, the court is laid, and Dubai Basketball are home.
