BEIRUT (Lebanon) - If FIBA WASL existed 15 years ago, Sam Daghlas would’ve thrived in it.
He loved the idea of facing players like Hamed Haddadi and Fadi El Khatib in a league setting, competing for their clubs - just like the stage WASL now provides for today’s stars of West Asian basketball.
He has been courtside since the opening game of this 2025 FIBA WASL West Asia season (as he was at BCL Asia last year) and is just happy the next generation doesn’t have to wonder what if.
"This is the time," Daghlas says. "This is what all the top clubs play for. We need this league to succeed, and we need all the clubs and all the countries behind it."
More than just another tournament
Launched in 2022, FIBA WASL already become something bigger than a competition in West Asia - it’s the long-overdue answer to years of opportunities for the region’s top teams to test themselves at the highest level.
Daghlas knows better than anyone how much that matters. Few people have done more for basketball in this part of the world—and few are more invested in see
ing it keep growing. And to Daghlas, FIBA WASL is the key.
"The skill level has evolved a lot," he says. "Now we just have to put it together and raise the level where we're able to compete with the higher teams - maybe in Europe one day. And it's a must."
The matchups that matter
For that to happen, the talent needs the right stage. That’s what WASL provides: a place where the best go at each other, where every game sharpens the region's stars and raises the ceiling of what's possible.
Daghlas, of course, is still watching the point guards first as a floor general himself,
"I'm gonna be a little bit biased,” he says with a grin about the players he's been keeping an eye on in WASL. "So, of course, I'm gonna start with my guy on Amman United, Freddie Ibrahim. [Wael] Arakji, of course."
"And the Bahraini best shooter - I call him the Stephen Curry of the Middle East - Mosti. He's phenomenal," said Daghlas, giving some insight that he keeps up with WASL Gulf as well.
But it’s bigger than just the individual names. To Daghlas, WASL is how the whole region levels up.
"These are the games that push players forward," he says. "This is how we become a basketball powerhouse."
Don't let the moment slip
With the league feeding into BCL Asia and giving clubs a direct shot at continental glory, there’s finally a full pathway for West Asia’s best to prove themselves. But a pathway only matters if people keep walking it.
“We’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time,” Daghlas says. “Now it’s here. So let’s push it. Let’s make it count.”
And if Sam Daghlas is saying that? It’s probably time to listen.
FIBA