KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Basketball point guard Hamdan Al Nuaimi is set to make history as the first Emirati national to play at the EuroLeague level when he represents Wildcats Sports Academy (WSA) at the NextGen EuroLeague Pre-Qualifier in Vienna, Austria, on November 27-29.
The 17-year-old, who stands at 1.88 metres tall, began his sporting life in football before taking up basketball in 2019. He initially played informally at parks and at school, only taking up the sport competitively in September 2023 when he joined Al Jazira Club.
Al Nuaimi said he chose basketball due to the mental demands and variety offered on the court compared to other team sports. “I felt like basketball has so much creativity involved. Football now looks like chess, but to me basketball is very reflexive. You need to think within seconds and no move or pass is the same," he said.
Sport does not run in the family. His father is a retired Lieutenant Colonel and an engineer who served in the UAE Armed Forces. A lot of sporting support initially came from his maternal uncle Abdo Alfalah, a former captain of the Libyan national basketball team.
After the first few months, Al Nuaimi’s budding interest became evident and he joined Al Jazira Club, but he took his quest for excellence to the next level when he came across WSA. He integrated into their setup, initially playing for their Under-14 team before progressing through local competitions to secure selection in the Under-18 roster that is now heading to Austria.
Speaking about the contrasting approaches to training, Al Nuaimi said: "At Wildcats, it is a different approach to the game, a more European playstyle focusing on fundamentals. My roles are a little different compared to Al Jazira, where I am among Arab-speaking mates - some are family and friends also - but I take everything as a challenge," he said.
In addition to local competition, Al Nuaimi gained international training experience with the ADEC All-Star initiative in Serbia, where he completed an eight-day training camp under Serbian and American coaches while competing against local youth teams.
His personal inspirations in the sport include former NBA guard Allen Iverson, as well as current professional players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kyrie Irving.
He said watching NBA games live in Abu Dhabi, including international fixtures featuring Australia's Patty Mills, shaped his perspective on elite performance standards.
"You see these players in person and realise they are at a level where you cannot compare yourself to them yet, as they are much better," Al Nuaimi said.
Looking ahead to the upcoming tournament in Vienna, Al Nuaimi said: "I have spent four years with Wildcats now and I am excited to play in the Under-18 NextGen tournament. We have played in different leagues against newer competition, and there are always opportunities to grow."