(AFP) – NBA commissioner Adam Silver told AFP on Thursday that there was “tremendous interest” as the league returns to China six years after being frozen out of the country. Star players and NBA executives have travelled to Macau this week for two pre-season games, the first in China after an acrimonious split in 2019 over a team official’s tweet in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.
“We are experiencing as great enthusiasm for the game as we ever have in China,” Silver said on the sidelines of an event co-hosted by the league’s global social responsibility programme. Macau is a special administrative region of China close to Hong Kong and the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal.
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Asked if sell-out games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns on Friday and Sunday could pave the way for more events and locations in future in China, Silver said: “Absolutely. As you know, there’s tremendous interest in the NBA throughout China, so it’s wonderful to be back here.” The matches will take place at an arena owned by the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate.
A fan event will feature celebrities such as four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal. Four-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker said ahead of an open practice session: “We have a big fan base out here in China.” “Basketball without borders is super important, being here on their homeland and letting them see us play in person,” added the Suns guard.
The NBA last played in Macau in 2007, just as the region surpassed Las Vegas as the world’s casino capital by gaming revenue. Nearly two decades later, the wealthy former Portuguese colony is under orders from Beijing to diversify its economy, with local officials eager to tout non-gaming events such as sports matches and concerts.
Sands president and COO Patrick Dumont, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, said this week’s matches will have “tremendous” positive impact for “Macau’s reputation as a global destination for leisure and business tourism.” Separately Thursday, Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba Group, announced a “multiyear collaboration” as the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China. Joe Tsai, the billionaire co-founder and chairman of Alibaba, is the owner of the Nets.
© 2024 AFP
