The NBA will host two pre-season games in Macau next October, marking its return to China after more than five years, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announced on Friday.
This will be the league’s first appearance in China since two pre-season games were held in 2019, following a fallout triggered by a tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. The tweet expressed support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, featuring the slogan “Stand with Hong Kong.”
Although Morey later deleted the tweet and apologised, the Chinese government severed ties with the NBA after league executives defended Morey’s right to freedom of expression.
Basketball is immensely popular in China, but the incident caused significant financial losses for the NBA, with games removed from Chinese television until 2022.
“It is my pleasure to announce that the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play two pre-season games at Sands’ Venetian Arena on 10th and 12th October, 2025,” Tatum said in Macau.
Macau, a special administrative region under China’s “one country, two systems” framework, is renowned for its gambling industry and is often referred to as China’s Las Vegas. Tatum described the region as home to “some of the most passionate NBA fans” in the world.
The Venetian Arena is part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate, controlled by the Adelson family, who are the majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks.
According to ESPN, relations between the NBA and China have improved with the assistance of NBA China Chief Executive Michael Ma, appointed in 2020.
The games are part of a multi-million-dollar agreement to hold two annual NBA pre-season matches in Macau over the next five years, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Patrick Dumont, Chief Executive of Las Vegas Sands, said the company was “excited to announce a multi-year collaboration with one of the most powerful and iconic global sports brands in history.”
‘Only Macau’
The announcement was met with excitement among basketball fans in Beijing.
“NBA games have been absent from China for quite some time. Their return will be great for basketball fans to experience top-level competition,” said Zhou Dacheng, a 32-year-old fan, speaking to AFP outside an outdoor court in central Beijing.
“As someone from Guangdong, I often visit Macau since it’s nearby. I definitely plan to watch these games,” Zhou added.
However, some social media users were less optimistic about NBA games returning to mainland China.
“It’s only Macau… the relationship between China and the NBA hasn’t been repaired at all,” one Beijing-based user commented.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking at a sports management conference in October, expressed hope for future games in China.
“We had a well-known incident pre-pandemic with a tweet, and the Chinese government took us off the air for a while,” Silver said. “We accepted that and stood by our values.”
In recent years, the NBA has focused on global growth, including hosting pre-season games in Abu Dhabi. Emirates Airlines sponsors the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament.
Between 2004 and 2019, a total of 28 NBA pre-season games were played by 17 teams in China.
Macau’s multi-billion-dollar gambling industry remains its main economic driver, though Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for greater economic diversification in the region.