Particle.news
Download on the App Store
18 ARTICLES
·
11h ago

NBA Returns to China With Sold-Out Macau Preseason Games Between Nets and Suns

Backed by a new Alibaba Cloud partnership, the visit is a cautious test of repaired ties after the league’s 2019 rift over Hong Kong.

Image
A Hong Kong protester in an LA Lakers jersey holding a LeBron James picture during a pro-democracy demonstration in October, 2019.
Image
LeBron James plays with a basketball during a promotional event at a store in Guangzhou, China in July, 2014.

Overview

  • The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns play Friday and Sunday at The Venetian Arena in Macau, the NBA’s first games in China since 2019, with tickets reported sold out within minutes.
  • Commissioner Adam Silver cited “tremendous interest,” with a five-day NBA House fan experience and appearances by Shaquille O’Neal complementing games hosted at a Las Vegas Sands–owned venue under a Sands China deal.
  • Alibaba Cloud announced a multiyear pact as the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China, aligning with Nets owner and Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai.
  • The Nets organized 13 youth clinics across Macao and Hong Kong and pledged support for a Hong Kong court beautification project as part of the league’s community outreach.
  • The return follows China’s 2019 pullback over Daryl Morey’s Hong Kong tweet, and coverage notes the relationship remains delicate even as broadcasts and commercial ties have gradually resumed.