The NBA is set to return to China with two pre-season games in Macau next October, according to the league's deputy commissioner. This marks the NBA's comeback to China after a five-year hiatus. No NBA games have been held in China since two pre-season contests in 2019, following a tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Morey's tweet, which featured a slogan used by demonstrators urging the world to “Stand with Hong Kong,” was later deleted, and he issued an apology. However, China effectively severed ties with the league after NBA executives defended Morey's right to freedom of expression.
Basketball enjoys immense popularity in China, and the fallout from the incident resulted in the NBA losing hundreds of millions of dollars as it was pulled off Chinese television until 2022. NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced in Macau that the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play two pre-season games at Sands' Venetian Arena on October 10 and October 12, 2025. Macau, a special administrative region under China's “one country, two systems” framework, is often referred to as the country's Las Vegas due to its status as the only city that allows gambling.
Tatum highlighted that Macau is home to some of the most passionate NBA fans in the world. The Venetian Arena is part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate, which is controlled by the Adelson family, the majority ownership group in the Dallas Mavericks. According to ESPN, the relationship between the NBA and China has improved, aided by NBA China chief executive Michael Ma, who was hired in 2020. The games are part of a multimillion-dollar agreement to stage two annual NBA pre-season matches in Macau over the next five years, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Las Vegas Sands expressed excitement about the multi-year collaboration with the NBA, calling it a partnership with one of the most powerful and iconic global sports brands in history. Basketball fans in Beijing welcomed the announcement, with one fan stating that the return of NBA games would be beneficial for amateur basketball fans to experience the highest level of competition. However, some social media users were skeptical about the NBA's return to the mainland, with one user noting that the relationship between China and the NBA has not been fully repaired.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver predicted at a sports management conference in October that the league would “bring back games to China at some point.” The NBA has been expanding globally, including recent pre-season games in Abu Dhabi, with Emirates Airlines sponsoring the NBA Cup, the league's in-season tournament. China has a vast basketball fanbase, and from 2004 to 2019, 17 teams played a total of 28 pre-season games there. Despite Macau's multibillion-dollar gambling industry being its economic lifeline, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the city to diversify its portfolio.
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