Relations between the NBA and China appear to have been repaired.
ESPN reported late Thursday that the NBA will play a preseason game in China for the first time since 2019.
The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns are said to play two preseason games there.
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A complete look at the Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Pelicans as part of the 2016 Global Games China held at the Les Sports Center in Beijing on October 12, 2016. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
Five years have passed since the controversy erupted. houston rockets GM Daryl Morey led Chinese broadcasters to not broadcast the game in the country. Morey posted on social media that he supports the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
Chinese authorities had called for Morley's removal from office after he expressed support for anti-government protests in 2019, leading to a disagreement with his Chinese counterpart over the issue.
In response, Chinese broadcasters did not air two domestic preseason games after the game. los angeles lakers And the Brooklyn Nets traveled there to play.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league has suffered “drastic” financial losses due to China. (Teyfan Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league had suffered “drastic” financial losses due to the departure of corporate sponsors.
But in October, Silver said he felt a return was possible. NBA players have played numerous games in China over the years, despite the breakdown in relations between the league and the country.
The league has long come under fire for its business partnerships with China, in part because of league-supported training camps in the Xinjiang region, where the government represses the Uyghur people. The US government considered it a genocide committed by China.
This was recently brought up with Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban, who posted on X that he opposes “China and all human rights abuses.” But he agrees with the NBA exporting content to China because the league “gets paid.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks to the media during a press conference at the United Center in Chicago, February 15, 2020. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom testified before Congress in 2023, claiming that criticism of China's treatment of the Uyghurs affected his NBA career. Kanter Freedom even suggested that the NBA is run by a “Chinese dictatorship.”
FOX News' Scott Thompson and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
