The NBA announced it will return to China for the first time in more than five years. The decision comes years after the league and Beijing had a falling out over an executive’s tweet.
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The league announced Friday, Dec. 6, that two preseason games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will take place in Macao next October at the Venetian Arena, owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
Macao is the only region in China where casino gambling is legal.
“NBA basketball is a global sport that attracts people of different ages, backgrounds and cultures. It creates exciting experiences that connect people while playing a positive role in communities. Sands is honored to bring the NBA China games to Macao so that the most elite level of basketball can be experienced directly by the fans who are so passionate about it.”
Statement by Sands President Patrick Dumont
These will be the first NBA games played in the country since a tweet by the then-general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, on Oct. 4, 2019, set off a rift between the league and China. Morey, who is now general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, posted an image in support of ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
Morey’s controversial 2019 tweet
At the time, the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers were in China. Chinese officials responded to Morey’s comments by preventing the teams from holding pre-game and post-game press conferences.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta was quick to react at the time. He said Morey did not speak for the organization, and the teams were in China to promote the league internationally. Fertitta added the NBA was not a political organization.
Nets chairman Joe Tsai, also the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, criticized the tweet in an open letter to NBA fans. He called the situation in Hong Kong a “third-rail issue.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Morey had the right to express himself. The NBA, in its statement, said it recognized that Morey’s views offended fans in China, calling it “regrettable,” and the league has “great respect for the history and culture of China.”
Silver’s response garnered bipartisan backlash from politicians in Washington, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for the league not standing by Morey.
Fallout sparks protests
The tweet’s fallout sparked protests at NBA games. Demonstrators wore customized shirts and held up signs reading “Free Hong Kong.”
Morey issued a clarification a few days later, saying his tweets were his own and he did not intend to offend Rocket fans and his friends in China.
China, however, took action. NBA games were removed from airing on China’s state broadcaster for some time following the tweet. The league said the rift cost up to $400 million in lost revenue the following year.
Making amends
The league has since taken action to mend its relationship with China. NBA legend Yao Ming attended the memorial service for former commissioner David Stern in 2020. China thanked the NBA for sending more than $1 million in medical supplies to assist in COVID-19 relief efforts during the early days of the pandemic, and All-Star Stephen Curry visited China in the summer.
Now, with two games on the schedule, the NBA and China are looking to resume their partnership with a multiyear deal. The NBA said it will be holding a “Fan Day” during the week of the games.
Two more NBA preseason games are reportedly being planned in China for 2026.
