By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Commissioner Adam Silver believes that the NBA could stage games in China again, five years after a controversy over the Hong Kong democracy protests prompted a backlash against the top-flight North American league.
The Houston Rockets then-General Manager Daryl Morey posted a message in support of anti-government protests in Hong Kong on social media in 2019, setting off a firestorm of controversy for the NBA in the lucrative Chinese market.
China refused to broadcast two pre-season games that were held in the country between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, as corporate sponsors fled and Silver said the NBA suffered “dramatic” financial consequences.
“I think we will bring games back to China at some point,” Silver said on Thursday at the Columbia University Sports Management Conference in New York.
“China’s government took us off the air for a period of time – we accepted that, we stood by our values… anybody in our league has the right to speak out on political matters.”
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV ended an 18-month blackout of the league in March 2022 and there were signs of thawing relations as six-times All-Star Jimmy Butler embarked on a tour of the country over the summer in 2023.
The NBA is working to expand its global footprint, hosting several pre-season games in Abu Dhabi and several regular-season games in Mexico City and Paris in the last few years.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York)
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