Klemen Prepelic on captaining Dubai Basketball, Olympic heartbreak and playing alongside Luka Doncic

Slovenian calls it 'honour and privilege' to lead team into historic ABA League opener against Red Star on Sunday

During a 15-year professional basketball career, Klemen Prepelic has experienced the highs and lows that often come with elite-level sport. In fact, he's endured those contrasting fortunes in the space of 34 seconds.

It was the semi-finals of the Olympics in Tokyo three years ago. Slovenia, a nation of just two million people but blessed with a golden basketball generation, trailed France by four points as the clock ticked down. Prepelic found space on the edge of the three-point line and drained his shot.

The gap reduced to a single point, Slovenia kept France from extending their lead and surged to the other end of the court in search of a dramatic winning basket.

Luka Doncic, the NBA superstar who has transformed the Dallas Mavericks franchise, passed the ball to Prepelic, who spotted space inside the France paint, dribbled at speed to the basket and released the ball for a lay-up in the final second. His shot was blocked, sending France into the gold-medal game against the USA and consigning Slovenia to battle for bronze with Australia.

Despite their comparatively small talent pool, there were few surprises that Slovenia had come so close to the Olympic title game. This was a team that a few years earlier were sensational to win the 2017 EuroBasket, and even without the absent Goran Dragic – Slovenia's other NBA stalwart – in Tokyo, remained a talented and well-drilled side.

Doncic was, of course, the star man and headline act, but in terms of importance to his national team, Prepelic is very much his equal.

“We were performing well. We were one lay-up away from the final of the Olympic Games, where I was blocked by Nicolas [Batum]. This is probably one of the hardest moments of my career,” Prepelic told The National.

“So, two of my best and the worst memories about basketball come from the national team. I'm very proud to perform for my country and if I’m healthy and they want me to play for the national team, I will always be available for them.”

Following the Tokyo heartbreak, Prepelic returned to club duties with Valencia in Spain, where he remained until 2023. Short stints at home with Olimpija and at Turkish giants Galatasaray followed before a unique opportunity presented itself to join, and become the captain of, a historic new franchise being formed in the UAE.

Dubai Basketball, or Dubai BC for short, are set to become the first team from the UAE to compete in a major European league when they begin their ABA League season against defending champions Red Star at the Coca-Cola Arena on Sunday.

“It’s a great honour and privilege for me to lead the team into this historic occasion and put the city of Dubai on the international basketball map,” Prepelic said. “This is an exciting new project that I have never experienced before. It’s the same for the entire squad and we are greatly looking forward to it and will do our best to put up a show in every game we play.”

Prepelic signed a two-year contract with the option of a one-year extension, bringing some “calm” and clarity to his immediate future following what he described as a “very difficult” 2023 summer while still at Valencia.

“I didn't have the right contract, the right opportunity that would satisfy me, and I was waiting at home until the very last months of the summer,” he said. “Then I ended up playing in my hometown for Olympija for a month and then joined Galatasaray in Turkey.

“So I wanted to have a pretty calm summer this summer, and I had a very good reaction from Dubai. Coach Yuric [Golemac] called me almost at the same point when he signed me with the club. He explained my role.

“The club made an incredible effort to bring me in. So, huge respect for [general manager] Dejan [Kamenjasevic] and the coach, and obviously, it's a pleasure for me to be part of this unique first season for Dubai.”

Prepelic will lead a multinational team comprising 12 players from nine countries. He has three teammates from Serbia, two from the United States, and one each from Italy, Turkey, Jordan, the Philippines, Croatia, and Latvia. The roster was bolstered last week by the arrival of experienced NBA player Davis Bertans.

It really is a unique challenge that Prepelic faces as the captain of such a cosmopolitan team, based in Dubai, competing in a league otherwise made up of clubs from the former Yugoslavia. But a career spent at the highest level of European basketball, while being co-captain alongside Doncic for his national team, has equipped him to handle the responsibility.

“They give you this winning mentality and competitiveness,” he said of sharing a court with former Miami Heat star Dragic and Doncic. “Goran and Luka are way different. Goran is all about practice; huge professional, really likes to practice and perform on a daily basis.

“Luka is completely different, the complete opposite. He's a huge talent, a very rare one born in the last hundred years. He gives you the unique experience of playing with the best players in the world. I'm very happy to be alongside him.”

Dubai BC may be about to make history as the first professional UAE-based club to compete in a European league, but basketball has long been immensely popular in the Emirates thanks to the large Arab and Filipino communities who play and closely follow the sport.

It gives Prepeplic, his teammates, and the entire Dubai BC organisation both the additional responsibility of representing the UAE's basketball community and striving to ensure the fans turn out for offer their support.

“I was playing at the World Cup last year in the Philippines with the Slovenian national team, and I saw how passionate they are for basketball,” he said. “Probably, as a nation, the Philippines are the most passionate, I saw it with my own eyes.

“And Arabic people, they really want to to bring the best sports to this part of the world. They invest huge amount of money in facilities and we're really looking forward to performing for them, to try to help them understand the game of basketball.

“I would really love to see people in the Coca-Cola Arena support us. I have played for some of the huge clubs with huge bases of fans, and the national team, we always have a packed gym. As a basketball player for sure it's way easier at home to play in front of a good crowd and sold-out gyms.”

As for his expectations for Dubai BC's inaugural season, Prepelic is being both realistic and ambitious. “I know the league, I know the courts, I know the fans, I know the referees, so I'm pretty familiar with everything,” he said. “I would say, it's more than realistic [to be among] the best four teams in the league.”