Air Lateef: Nowhere to go but up for Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai's high-leaping youngster

DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - It was not until he watched the video when Hamed Lateef realized the gravity of the highlight play he pulled off.

"What was running through my mind... nothing," he reflected. "I don't know what happened through the poster. It was after the poster, when I watched the videos, I was like, 'Wow, what happened here?' It was amazing."

The 22-year-old guard was referring to the dunk he made in Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai's 100-90 victory over Al Nasr Riyadh in a WASL-Gulf Qualification to Semi-Finals duel at the former's home floor at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum last 28 March.

 

It happened with less than eight minutes remaining in the final period. After getting past the opposing team's full-court press, Lateef saw an opportunity to execute what would become undeniably one of the league's best plays of the season.

With Al Nasr's perimeter defense slow to set up, he quickly attacked the middle and exploded for a one-handed jam -- right in the face of big man Antonio Campbell.

Of course, the Shabab Al Ahli bench rose in excitement as the venue got filled with cheers for what they witnessed, which eventually became viral on social media.

"I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it," said Lateef.

Since then, Lateef has made highlight-worthy slams almost every game, which, surely, is always as sweet as the very first dunk he ever made when he was 16.

"It was my first time. It was [during my] junior team. It was a game, I had a fastbreak, got to the right side, and dunked it -- a normal dunk," he recalled.

Those dunks are an indication, too, of how much he's enjoying being at full health after being hounded by minor injuries early in the tilt, which explains his limited outputs.

That Al Nasr game saw him finish as one of the team's top scorers with 14 points, at the time his best WASL outing after averaging 8.3 points in the Group Phase.

He wasn't able to score in Game 2 of the QSF series, but made sure that it would be the last time he'd go blank in a game. Lateef quickly bounced back and fired 15 points in the decider to help Shabab Al Ahli seal a spot in the Semi-Finals.

The team didn't have the result it wanted against eventual champions Kuwait Club in the said stage, but the UAE men's team stalwart didn't just give up. He served as a bright spot in the Game 2 loss as he poured a season-high 27 markers.

He then made sure that his squad will take the remaining Final 8 ticket via Gulf, dropping 18 points against Al Hilal in the Third-Place Game.

"I just got hyped over the season," said Lateef, who finished the Gulf League with per-game averages of 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1,3 steals. "At the beginning, I had some minor injuries, so I couldn't jump and all that."

"When I recovered, alhamdulillah, everything happened," he added.

Part of that 'hype' that helped spur that in-season growth was the unwavering support of his brothers and teammates Mohammed and Ahmed, all of which are sons of UAE basketball icon Abdullateef Abdulellah Albreiki.

"My father, he used to be a basketball player ... he's one of the major players in UAE," proudly said Hamed, who began to play the sport when was 4.

"And my brothers, they all hyped me up to be a basketball player. I used to play around them every day at home, parks, everywhere," he added.

Surely, the whole family will be in attendance for their games in the Final 8, and Hamed couldn't wait to ball out before them as Shabab Al Ahli are looking to maximize homecourt advantage in their bid to go all the way to the end.

Shabab Al Ahli will raise the tournament's curtains on 9 June versus BC Astana at 19:00 local time at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall.

"We're hoping to make it to the Top Two and go to the Semi-Finals, and reach the Finals. That's every team's challenge. It's gonna be tough for us and for other teams, so we're gonna work hard to do whatever we can, so we can reach our goal," he said.

Who knows, maybe he'd serve even more highlights along the way, too.

"Hopefully, I get another poster," he said, smiling.

FIBA