Sources: Nets-Suns set as NBA's return to China

The NBA will return to China for the first time since 2019 with two preseason games in Macao between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in October, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The return is the culmination of a yearslong process to repair the relationship between the NBA and China following commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s support for freedom of expression after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image that supported protests in Hong Kong in October 2019.

The divide led to the loss of lucrative sponsorships and the temporary removal of NBA games from Chinese broadcast television in 2019, which cost the league hundreds of millions in the ensuing seasons.

Sources said the relationship has improved over the past several years with the assistance of NBA China CEO Michael Ma, who was hired in 2020.

Both Silver and Nets owner Joe Tsai, who is also the billionaire co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, have expressed confidence that games would return to China in the near future.

The games in Macao will be played at the Venetian Arena, which is part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate controlled by the Adelson family, the majority ownership group of the Dallas Mavericks.

Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, the chief operating officer and president of the Las Vegas Sands, was an integral driver of the NBA’s new Macao partnership, sources said. The NBA’s collaboration with Sands will include new youth development programs and social impact initiatives in Macao to teach basketball and the game’s values to children.

The NBA’s popularity in China remains strong among fans, and basketball is the most popular sport in Macao.

From 2004 to 2019, 17 NBA teams played a total of 28 preseason games in China. The NBA played two preseason games at what is now called the Venetian Arena in 2007, when the Orlando Magic faced the Chinese men’s national team and the Cleveland Cavaliers.