The NBA will be returning to China next season, agreeing to play preseason games there more than five years after the league faced issues over Commissioner Adam Silver’s decision not to punish Daryl Morey for tweeting support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns will play in Macao, China, on October 10, 2025, and again two days later. There are also plans for two more preseason games in China in 2026, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
These games will take place at the Venetian Arena in Macao, which is owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., a casino operator. Sands president Patrick Dumont became governor of the Dallas Mavericks after his family acquired the team.
“We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Sands to bring NBA games back to Macao beginning next year,” said NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. He called the agreement “a significant milestone in the continued global growth of basketball.”
The Nets are owned by Joe Tsai, the chairman of Alibaba, a Chinese tech giant.
To kick off the return of NBA games to China, there will be a celebrity game in Macao on Saturday. Basketball Hall of Famers Tony Parker, Ray Allen, and Tracy McGrady, along with former NBA players Stephon Marbury, DeMarcus Cousins, and Cuttino Mobley, will be the main attractions. They participated in the event to announce the Suns-Nets games.
This announcement follows a long series of moves toward improving relations between China and the NBA. The NBA has been welcomed back in some ways, with Miami’s Jimmy Butler, who has a deal with the Chinese apparel company Li-Ning, visiting the country and drawing large crowds in recent offseasons.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox also attracted huge crowds when they visited China in September. In October, Silver said he believed the league would “bring games back to China at some point.”
“NBA basketball is a global sport that attracts people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures. It creates exciting experiences that connect people while playing a positive role in communities,” Dumont said. “Sands is honored to bring The NBA China Games to Macao so that the most elite level of basketball can be experienced directly by the fans who are so passionate about it.”
The issues between China and the NBA began in October 2019 when Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet was quickly deleted, but the fallout lasted for years, as China was upset with Silver supporting Morey’s right to speak out on the issue.
“If that’s the consequence of us adhering to our values, we still feel it’s critically important we adhere to those values,” Silver said at the time.
The timing of Morey’s tweet was particularly awkward, as the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers were in China for two games. Those games were played, but with many fans covering up the NBA logos on their jerseys and without the usual pregame or postgame press conferences.
The NBA was criticized by U.S. lawmakers from both parties for playing the games and for not saying more about China’s human rights record.
Because Silver did not sanction Morey in the way China wanted, no NBA games were shown on CCTV, China’s state broadcaster, for one year after the tweet. CCTV began showing the NBA Finals in 2020 and resumed broadcasting games more regularly in 2022. NBA games have been available to Chinese fans through Tencent, one of the NBA’s broadcasting partners.
The NBA said this rift cost the league up to $400 million in lost revenue, a figure that likely grew in the following years. However, there have been steps toward reconciliation. In January 2020, NBA legend Yao Ming attended a memorial service for Commissioner Emeritus David Stern in the U.S., signaling that the NBA and China wanted to repair their relationship.
In February 2020, China publicly thanked the NBA for sending over $1 million in medical supplies to help with coronavirus relief efforts.
The NBA previously played a preseason game in Macao in 2007, when Orlando beat Cleveland. The Magic also played a Chinese all-star team in Macao on the same trip. In 2008, USA Basketball played exhibition games in Macao before the Beijing Olympics.
“The game of basketball around here, the fans respect the game so much,” LeBron James said in 2007 after playing in Macao. “It’s great to see that.”
Macao, a former Portuguese colony that became part of China in 1999, is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Beijing has encouraged the city to diversify its gambling-based economy, hoping to boost tourism and serve as a trade bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
