Regional and international celebrities showcase their basketball
skills in support of diabetes awareness during the region's first-ever
celebrity basketball game.
For the
first-time ever, the region will play host to basketball living legend, Kobe
Bryant. The
action-packed Kobe Bryant Health & Fitness Weekend, presented by DMCC, is
in support of diabetes awareness and will be held on September 26 and 27 under
the Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan
bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development, Chairman of the General Authority for Youth
and Sports Welfare. During the
course of the weekend, Bryant will make a number of appearances with the
highlight being the highly anticipated celebrity basketball game on September
27 at the state-of-the-art Knights Arena at American University in Dubai.
Bryant will
lead the warm-up and coach a team of celebrity players, fittingly called Team
Black Mamba. Kobe’s team includes a number of high-profile, household names in
the region. Playing against Team Black Mamba will be the Real Madrid basketball
legends, part of the world’s most successful sports franchise
whose value Forbes recently pegged at more than $3 billion. The basketball game
is sure to be fast-paced and full of electrifying highlights as the athletes
showcase their skills.
Fans
will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a glimpse inside the mind of
the five-time champion and witness firsthand his charismatic and humorous
personality as Bryant will wear a wireless microphone during one half of the
game so the crowd can hear his every word. Assistant
coach of Team Black Mamba will be Rachel Omolewu, three time USA National
Physique Committee overall figure champion and health & fitness expert. The
line-up of players on Team Black Mamba include: Soulja Boy, music artist and
CEO of SODMG Records whose hit single 'Crank That' topped the US charts for
several weeks; Virgin Radio Dubai popular personalities Kris Fade and Brent
Black; Mohamed Al Mubarak, deputy CEO of Aldar Properties; Marwan Parham, aka
DJ Bliss, TV presenter of the popular “That’s Entertainment” show and one of
the region’s top DJs; Mohammed Abdrabboh, general counsel at the Dubai Multi
Commodities Centre (DMCC);
and Nathalie Junebie aka Chikay, popular radio jockey Tag 91.9FM. Two
surprise celebrity players will be announced on August 26 and September 2
respectively, with one expected to be a former USA professional basketball
player.
The Real Madrid basketball legends, who will take on Team Black
Mamba, are coached by Juan Antonio Corbalan, himself a former Olympic Games
basketball player who competed in the Summer Games in Munich, Moscow and Los
Angeles. Rafael Rullan, president of the Real Madrid basketball
legends, is the assistant coach. He is also a former basketball player
and was a major contributor to Real Madrid’s three Euroleague titles. The
line-up includes two former USA professional basketball players including
Joseph Arlauckas, who played for Sacramento, and Zan Tabak, who played for
Toronto and Indiana prior to joining the Real Madrid team. Other Real
Madrid basketball legends on the roster are Antonio Llorente; Dario Quesada;
Iturriaga Lopez; Jose Manuel Beiran; Jose Luis Diaz; Jose Luis Llorente; Jose
Miguel Antunez; and Lucio Angulo.
The celebrity basketball game will provide an opportunity for fans
in the region to watch some exciting basketball. All the celebrity players are
sports enthusiasts and most of them continue to play competitive basketball.
Tickets for the celebrity basketball game are available online at
timeouttickets.com. An interactive official website, www.kobefitnessuae.com, has been
launched to provide detailed information for the weekend events including
profiles on the players, a schedule of events, as well as a chance to win
tickets for the game by testing your health and fitness knowledge.
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is the title partner for
the Kobe Bryant Health & Fitness Weekend. DMCC has a mandate from the
government of Dubai to provide the physical, market and financial
infrastructure to set up a commodities market place in Dubai. It is the
licensing authority for JLT, one of the largest mixed-use, free-zone
developments in Dubai. DMCC recently announced plans to build the world’s
tallest commercial tower as part of an expansion plan to attract more
multinationals.
“At DMCC we strongly believe that a healthier lifestyle means a
better quality of life,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of DMCC. “The Kobe Bryant Health &
Fitness Weekend presented by DMCC, will show our youth that fitness can be fun
and interacting with one of the world’s greatest basketball legends will
inspire them to aim high and stay healthy.”
During the weekend Kobe Bryant will also coach a basketball-skills
clinic to give his legion of younger fans an opportunity to interact with and
be inspired by the man who Bin Sulayem referred to as “the greatest of all
time”. Details of how to win a spot for the clinic will be announced
later this month.
Nike, who is a global sponsor of Bryant’s, will be supporting the
basketball superstar’s first appearance in the Middle East. The event is
also supported by GEMS Education, the international K-12 education company,
which owns and operates high-performing schools across the globe, with a
history of 50 years. The Kobe Bryant Health & Fitness Weekend presented by
DMCC is in association with the Dubai Diabetes Association; Boston Diabetes
Centre; Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s public health awareness
campaign, Diabetes-Knowledge-Action; Expo 2020; General Authority of Youth and
Sport Welfare; Sport is a Lifestyle campaign, Dubai Calendar; and Dubai Sports
Council. The official media partners are Virgin Radio Dubai and Sports
Talk magazine. Kempinski Hotels are the official hotel partner and
American University in Dubai is the official venue partner for the event.
The
event is being organised by Maven Marketing & Events, the region’s first
full service entertainment marketing, public relations and events agency.
“The community support in response to our
announcement about the Kobe Bryant Health & Fitness Weekend has been
overwhelming across the region,” said Sarah Omolewu, managing partner of Maven
Marketing & Events. One of the stated aims of the company is to use celebrities
to convey larger messages such as promoting healthier lifestyles. “We are
delighted that Kobe’s first-ever appearance in the region is raising awareness
of the importance of health and fitness thus making a meaningful, and hopefully
lasting, contribution to the community,” she added.
For
more information and updates on the Kobe Bryant Health and Fitness weekend,
visit www.kobefitnessuae.com
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