"Earlier in October, two NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns played pre-season games in Macau, a special territory of China. Over the summer, with the league back in the country, a handful of NBA players also toured China, including LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NBA, by far the sport's biggest competition, had been frozen out of its biggest overseas market since 2019, but the relationship seems to be thawing."
"In 2019, Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets posted on social media an image with the slogan "Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong", at the height of pro-democracy protests in the former British colony. The NBA said the comments were "regrettable" but the reaction in China, with an estimated 450 million basketball fans, was swift and severe. Broadcasters refused to show the league, sponsors cancelled deals and there were no more exhibition games in the country."
US and Chinese leaders meet in South Korea amid renewed basketball engagement between the two countries. Two NBA teams held pre-season games in Macau in October, and several NBA players toured China over the summer, including LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NBA had been frozen out of its largest overseas market since Daryl Morey's 2019 pro-Hong Kong social media post, which triggered broadcaster and sponsor boycotts. Commissioner Adam Silver estimated the boycott cost the league hundreds of millions in lost revenue. The Macau events drew enthusiastic crowds and indicate a cautious, deliberate re-entry into China.
Read at www.dw.com
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