They sold just about everything one could imagine, for a fraction of what it would cost in the US. I picked up a backpack, a winter hat and a package of gummy bears to munch on during the interminable flight home.
I also wanted to buy a basketball so I could take jump-shots at one of the empty parks the next day, just because. The balls were not inflated, but an employee saw my confusion and pointed to a complimentary electric pump sitting in a corner.
He filled the $2 ball with air and we were on our way. About four blocks from the hotel I spotted one of the parks I’d found earlier. I didn’t know all the rules of Abu Dhabi, but I told Chris we should at least take a silent layup or two.
But as we approached, we realized there was no need for silence. The park was absolutely alive. Families sat on blankets. Teenagers played soccer. Dates sat on benches. And, yes, basketball was being played.
It was clear that Abu Dhabi’s solution to the blazing sun and insufferable heat was to embrace recreation at cooler hours, such as midnight on a Saturday. Chris and I walked over to a dust-covered red court that had been scuffed with sneaker marks, and we found that the sound of a ball going through a chain net is just as satisfying on the other side of the world.
We played for about a half-hour before giving the ball to a happy teenager and explaining we had no desire to cram it into our carryon luggage. It turned out that Abu Dhabi had a basketball culture after all. It was just more visible after dark.
▪ After the Celtics lost to the eighth-seeded Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals, lead owner Wyc Grousbeck heard the suggestions he should fire coach Joe Mazzulla. But Grousbeck and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens stuck by their coach, and last season Mazzulla guided Boston to its 18th NBA championship. Grousbeck said he truly enjoyed seeing the success of Mazzulla, who is now revered here.
“It’s super satisfying to have everybody else see what we saw,” Grousbeck said. “I’m as happy for Joe as I am for anybody. I’m thrilled that his own unique brand of being the most intense, driven person I’ve ever met has translated into a championship. He’s hilarious and he’s a winner and he’s our guy, and that’s going to be a forever relationship.”
▪ Celtics big man Xavier Tillman is a career 26.7 percent 3-point shooter who has never attempted more than 1.5 per game. But it appears that the Celtics believe that Tillman can be an asset from long range, particularly while floor-spacing center Kristaps Porzingis is sidelined after ankle surgery.
Tillman, who drained a key 3-pointer in Boston’s Game 3 win over the Mavericks in the NBA Finals, was 3 for 5 from beyond the arc during the two preseason games against Denver.
“You never want to put a ceiling on his game, and now that we have him for an entire offseason and season it’s just continuing to grow,” Mazzulla said. “So he does a great job of working, but all facets are important for his development. Shooting, his screening was good [Sunday], his communication and his defense, and then just continuing to get comfortable in our system.”
▪ Former French soccer star Thierry Henry attended the Celtics-Nuggets game on Friday, and on Saturday Porzingis posted a picture of Henry and Mazzulla in the locker room together looking at a dry-erase board and appearing to be discussing game strategies.
Mazzulla prefers to keep private moments such as this one private, but once Porzingis served as paparazzi, the word was out. I asked Mazzulla about the interaction, and he offered very little.
“Talking soccer, talking basketball, talking similarities,” he said, before firing off some sarcasm. “Thanks, KP.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
