Raleigh native playing pro basketball in Middle East comes home to family as war escalates

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Raleigh dad is just back from the Middle East and sharing his story with ABC11.

Julian Gamble, a Raleigh native, has played professional basketball overseas for years and was playing for a Lebanese team just a few days ago.

But he decided to come home to his family as the war escalated.

"I just felt it was the safest thing to come back, even for me, I had to get a new passport just to be able to go to the countries," said Gamble, 34, who was playing in the Arab League Championships on Thursday in Qatar.

Before he was playing in Lebanon, Julian, who graduated from Southern High in Durham and played collegiately at the University of Miami, had a stint in Israel.

"Israelis always treated me with nothing but love and respect," the 6-foot, 10-inch center said. "So for everyone in this area, I just pray for safety and for peace."

For some of his stints overseas, his family went to live with him.

He and his then-pregnant wife, who played basketball at Fayetteville State, were living in Belgium in 2016 during a terrorist attack at that airport.

Wherever he stops next, he wants to ensure that place is safe.

"The basketball sticks with me, but what sticks with me the most is how every country and every team in every city has its own identity," Julian said.