The NBA is returning to China after six years with Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns set to play two sold-out pre-season games in Macau on Friday and Sunday.
The league had been absent from China since 2019 when a tweet by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong led Beijing to suspend ties with the NBA.
The fallout caused major financial losses with commissioner Adam Silver saying the league lost “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
China remains one of the NBA’s biggest markets with over 125 million basketball players in the country. Fans continued to follow the league through unofficial channels even when broadcasts were banned.
NBA’s Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said the league still supports its community’s right to express opinions, including on China, and said it worked closely with the US State Department for international guidance.
The two matches in Macau will take place at the Venetian Arena, part of the Las Vegas Sands group.
Sports industry analyst Mark Dreyer said the NBA’s decision to return to China through Macau was a “smart move” and a “soft landing”, noting that the league has a contract to host two games annually in the region.
Many fans in China said they are eager to watch basketball without politics. “Politics should not be a part of basketball,” said He Xixuan, a 26-year-old construction worker.
“If everyone focuses on sports, it can be good for both sides.”