The NBA returns to China after six years

New video loaded: The NBA returns to China after six years

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The NBA returns to China after six years

The NBA returns to China this week after a hiatus sparked by a controversial tweet from 2019. In Macau, New York Times business reporter Tania Ganguli reveals the behind-the-scenes players who orchestrated the league’s return.

I’m in Macau, the gambling capital of the world. I’m here for the NBA’s return to China. There have been no NBA games here in the last six years. I look at these big banners hanging over buildings. Reminds me to be here again in 2019. Sitting in their hotel, the players could see workers tearing down the same banners and peeling their faces off the building. A few days earlier, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sent a tweet in support of the protesters in Hong Kong. Well, that really upset the Chinese government. The NBA supported him. We make no apologies for Daryl exercising his freedom of speech. And then there was chaos. The whole week. Sponsors withdrew. And many players worried about whether they would even be allowed to go home if things got worse. It was so surreal. They lost about $400 million. Based on this one situation alone, the Chinese market for the NBA is huge. There are a lot of basketball fans here… and the league has been working to cultivate it for decades. So it’s a very big deal for the league to come here to Macau and play a game in China again. If you ask anyone around the league, how did these games come about? The name they called is Patrick Dumont. He is a top manager at Sands Casino. And owner of the Dallas Mavericks. In 2021, the Chinese government renegotiated so-called concessions with the casinos here in Macau. In these concession agreements, the government required casinos to spend a certain amount on non-gaming activities such as entertainment such as sports. And Sands had this arena at the Venetian, so Dumont saw an opportunity to bring the NBA here to meet that need. One of the other key players here was Joe Sy, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets. Joe Tsai is chairman of Alibaba Group, a Chinese technology giant. He has close ties to the Chinese government and the Nets and has spent a lot of time in recent years meeting with Chinese officials and holding events celebrating Chinese culture. You spoke to Chinese media and said that this market is so important for us. We care more about this market than any other NBA team. They even started a reality show. This is a dance team competition where dancers are selected to perform here in Macau. Sound up: “The Brooklyn Nets will find the best dancers in China” There is a lot at stake for these teams because. The league saw what happened when things went wrong and they lost that market, even briefly. There is a feeling that everything must go well and that this is a great opportunity to regain something they have lost.

The NBA returns to China this week after a hiatus sparked by a controversial tweet from 2019. In Macau, New York Times business reporter Tania Ganguli reveals the behind-the-scenes players who orchestrated the league’s return.

By Tania Ganguli, Christina Shaman, Kassie Bracken and Christina Thornell

October 11, 2025