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The Timberwolves typically play most or all of their preseason games on the road. Next season, they will log a few more miles than usual.
The NBA announced that the Wolves and Mavericks will play two preseason games at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The games will take place on October 5 and October 7 and continue a multi-year series in the country. Last season, the Hawks and Bucks played a preseason game there.
The league went ahead with the series despite criticism over the league’s relationship with Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which, according to the US State Department, has committed “serious human rights violations”. These include torture, detention, arbitrary arrest, and undue restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, including criminalizing defamation and censorship. The country has criminalized the LGBTQ+ community.
In April 2022, league commissioner Adam Silver responded to criticism the league had received for hosting games in the UAE.
“It’s a fair question,” Silver said, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel. “We still believe that through sports, through basketball, we can improve people’s lives through sports, as Nelson Mandela ) quote, sport can change the world. I think we take our game all over the world.
“I mean, part of the reason we choose certain markets is of course economics. There’s no question about that. It’s very expensive and resource driven to take teams around the world. We also want to try and bring our games to Where we haven’t been before, the Middle East is one of those markets.
“We think about a lot of different factors when it comes to traveling, carrying games. But our ultimate goal is to take our games around the world. We draw boundaries, but we’re an American company, and generally we allow those boundaries to be governed by our Government delineation. Whoever happens to be our government will give us direction as they see fit for where we operate and where we don’t.”
“As the NBA continues its global expansion, the Minnesota Timberwolves are honored to have been selected to compete in the NBA Abu Dhabi Games,” Wolves CEO Ethan Carson said in a statement. “Thank you to the NBA and host city Abu Dhabi for giving us the opportunity to bring fans together through basketball.”
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