Source: NBA returns to China with Nets-Suns preseason game.

The NBA will return to China for the first time since 2019 with two preseason games between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in Macau in October, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The return is the culmination of a years-long process to repair the NBA’s relationship with China after Commissioner Adam Silver and then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image in support of the Hong Kong protests in October. 2019.

The division resulted in the loss of lucrative sponsorships and the temporary removal of NBA games from Chinese broadcasts in 2019, costing the league hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sources said relations have improved over the past few years with the help of NBA China CEO Michael Ma, who was hired in 2020.

Joe Tsai, owner of the Silver and Nets and also the billionaire co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, expressed confidence that gaming will return to China in the near future.

The Macau game will be played at the Venetian Arena, part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate run by the Adelson family, the majority shareholder group of the Dallas Mavericks.

Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks’ governor and chief operating officer and president of Las Vegas Sands, was a key driver of the NBA’s new Macau partnership, sources said. The NBA’s collaboration with the Sands will include a new youth development program and social impact initiative in Macau that teaches children the value of basketball and the game.

The NBA’s popularity in China remains strong among fans, and basketball is the most popular sport in Macau.

From 2004 to 2019, 17 NBA teams played a total of 28 preseason games in China. The NBA held two preseason games in 2007, when the Orlando Magic faced the Chinese men’s national team and the Cleveland Cavaliers at what is now called the Venetian Arena.