Reports: China Set to Host Initially NBA Preseason Games since 2024
The NBA’s relationship with China that turned cold over a general supervisor’s tweet in 2019 obviously is thawing with an Friday of two preseason video games in Macao in October, according to multiple reports Thursday.
The Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play on Oct. 10 and 12, 2025, at Macao’s Venetian Arena, marking the very first games because 17 NBA teams played 28 preseason contests in China from 2004 to 2019.
Basketball is incredibly popular in China, and the marketplace was worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the NBA. However, a rift was developed when then-Houston Rockets general supervisor Daryl Morey tweeted support of anti-government protests in Hong Kong in October 2019.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver supported individual flexibility of expression and did not penalize Morey, the present GM of the Philadelphia 76ers.
In response, rewarding sponsorships were ended and league games were disappointed on CCTV, the state-sponsored broadcaster in China, for one year after Morey’s tweet. Silver estimated in 2021 that the NBA lost $400 million that year since of the torn relationship.
NBA video games, nevertheless, started appearing frequently on CCTV in 2022 and ended up being available on a streaming service.
NBA players, including stars Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings, have actually made appearances in China. Macao will host a celeb basketball game on Saturday featuring former NBA standouts.
The Venetian Arena is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates a gambling establishment there. Macao is the only place in China with legal casino betting. Dallas Mavericks guv Patrick Dumont is the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands.
Joe Tsai, the co-founder and chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, owns the Nets.
— Field Level Media
