NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Thursday that the league plans to return to China for games, despite a four-year absence following a high-profile controversy in 2019. Speaking at a sports management conference at Columbia University, Silver expressed optimism about future games in China, although no specific timeline has been confirmed.
The NBA has not played games in China since two pre-season matchups in 2019 were overshadowed by a tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, which expressed support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The tweet led to a significant backlash from the Chinese government, resulting in the NBA being taken off Chinese television and causing the league to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
“I think we will bring back games to China at some point,” Silver stated. He also emphasized the league’s stance during the controversy.
“We had a well-known incident there pre-pandemic with a tweet and China’s government took us off the air for a period of time. We accepted that. We stood by our values.”
The financial impact of the ban was substantial, with the NBA being kept off Chinese broadcasts until 2022. Despite this, the league has continued to expand globally, playing pre-season games in new markets such as Abu Dhabi, where Emirates Airlines sponsored the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament.
Silver noted that the NBA’s mission extends beyond basketball, aiming to positively influence international communities through the sport. “We came to the decision collectively as a league that by expanding our game internationally, it’s positive and it’s part of our mission to create health and wellness around the sport of basketball,” he said.
While the league has worked to grow its global presence in regions like the Middle East, the NBA’s potential return to China signals a rekindling of one of its largest international markets. China, with its massive basketball fanbase, has long been a key revenue generator for the NBA, and the resumption of games there would mark a significant step in the league’s global strategy.
