The National Basketball Association (NBA) is set to return to China for the first time since 2019, with two pre-season games scheduled for Friday and Sunday between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns at the Venetian casino and hotel in Macau. This return comes after a six-year hiatus, during which the NBA faced a freeze in relations with China following a 2019 incident involving a manager’s support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The games in Macau mark the first NBA fixture in the region since 2007. This resurgence aligns with a newly announced multi-year partnership between the NBA and Chinese technology company Alibaba, whose chair, Joseph Tsai, is also the owner of the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver highlighted the growing interest in basketball within China, noting a “tremendous interest in the NBA throughout China.” In 2022, an analysis by ESPN estimated the value of NBA China, which handles the league’s operations in the country, to be around $5 billion. The sport’s popularity surged in China following the 2002 drafting of Chinese player Yao Ming by the Houston Rockets, with the NBA estimating that about 300 million people in China actively play basketball.
The upcoming games can be seen as a sign of improving relations between the NBA and China, particularly after tensions arose due to a 2019 incident regarding a tweet from then-Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey. This tweet led to the suspension of NBA broadcasts in China after the league declined to apologize or discipline Morey. Since then, NBA games have gradually returned to Chinese television channels.
Fans in China have expressed excitement for the upcoming games, with individuals discussing their long-standing support for the league.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9zmld314ro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss