LA Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will visit Dubai to lead the Health and Fitness weekend, organised by Maven Marketing and Events in conjunction with Dubai Sports Council (DSC), from October 28-31.
It will be the second time a basketball star has been involved in the project, following Kobe Bryant’s visit to the Emirate last year.
During his visit, Jabbar, 67, will conduct basketball clinics as well as talk about the importance of health and fitness, with the emphasis on raising awareness on the ever growing incidence of diabetes.
During his 20 years as an NBA player, Jabbar went on to win the title six times with Milwaukee Bucks and LA Lakers.
When he retired in 1989, Jabbar was the NBA’s all-time points scored leader (38,387) from 1,560 matches.
And the six-time MVP winner posted on his social media sites saying: “I’m looking forward to going to the United Arab Emirates this October for the ‘Kareem Abdul-Jabbar health and fitness weekend’ presented by @MavenMarketingandEvents, in support of diabetes awareness, #kareemfitnessuae.”
This year’s event will aim to achieve the same success as 2013, which was held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development, and Chairman of the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare.
Sarah Omolewu, managing partner of Maven Marketing and Events, said: “After winning the award for Best Special Event in the Middle East at the prestigious MEES awards for our Kobe Bryant celebrity basketball game, the pressure is on to raise the bar even higher to make this year’s health and fitness weekend an even bigger success; we are geared up to embrace that challenge.”
Omolewu said more details will be released after Ramadan.
