EuroLeague Basketball: NextGen Finals to dovetail with Final Four in Abu Dhabi in May
9 Apr 2025 01:09
Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)The future Luka Doncic or even the next Lebron James may be on display in Abu Dhabi next month when the EuroLeague Basketball's season climax is held on May 23-25, followed by the NextGen Finals. It was announced in January that the Final Four will be hosted in the emirate - the first time the top-tier tournament for club pros in Europe decided to hold it outside of the continent after a deal was struck between the organisers and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi through the agency IMG. In addition to the main event, the NextGen Finals - the world's premier club-based junior basketball event, which will bring the world's top Under-18 talents together with the biggest names in basketball - will also be staged. Tickets to the Final Four event were sold out inside the first seven hours when they went on sale on February 26. While the Final Four will be held at the Eithad Arena on Yas Island, the next generation of stars will showcase their skills at the Mubadala Arena at Zayed Sports City. Last year, Dubai hosted the Qualifier to the NextGen Finals, in which the Dubai Falcons gave an indication of how the sport has developed in the UAE. That initiative last year led to the formation of Dubai Basketball, which has already made waves in the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA) League as the debutants managed to secure a play-off berth with five games to spare and are currently third in the 16-team table.The NextGen Finals will feature eight elite teams. Joining Dubai Basketball will be EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Barcelona (Winner of NextGen Ulm), Mega SuperBet Belgrade (Winner of NextGen Istanbul), Overtime Elite, Pole France INSEP Paris (Winner of NextGen Belgrade), Real Madrid and Zalgiris Kaunas.Incidentally, this marks the second consecutive year an Overtime Elite representative will compete in the NextGen Finals. Overtime Elite, an elite U16 to U20 league, features many of the top young talents from the United States and beyond. The league, consisting of eight teams, recently completed its fourth season.Dubai Basketball, a newly established project founded in 2024, has rapidly made its mark by securing participation in the ABA League. Their U18 team Falcons will represent the Middle East again in a successive appearance, following their role as hosts in the qualifiers last season. There will be two groups with Juria Golemac's boys in Dubai, matched with Armani Milan, Barcelona and Belgrade.A combined total of nine U18 continental trophies have been won by the clubs participating in the NextGen Finals. Real Madrid enters as the reigning champions, having edged out INSEP by a single point (85-84) in last year's final in Berlin. Real Madrid claimed the title in 2023, 2021, 2019 and 2015, while INSEP were crowned champions in 2010 and 2017. Barcelona claimed the European championship in 2016, and Mega won its first title in 2022.Fans attending the NextGen Finals in Abu Dhabi or watching via the EuroLeague's official YouTube channel will enjoy 12 group-stage games over the first three days (May 22 to May 24). The tournament will conclude on Sunday, May 25, with the championship game between the two group winners. Tickets for the NextGen Finals will be available for purchase in the coming weeks.
This season marks the 23rd edition of the NextGen. Some of the biggest names in basketball have passed through the competition, such as Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Kristaps Porzingis, Milos Teodosic, Vasilije Micic, Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric among others.
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