The year was 2019 and the then General Manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey shared a tweet that triggered a chain of events, culminating in the Chinese government suspending NBA broadcasts on state-owned CCTV for nearly two years. It is a new dawn as the Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai recently declared that the “NBA is in a very good place” with China. But what does this new dawn truly mean for the league?
At a sports convention held in Macau on Friday, Joe Tsai, also chairman of tech giant Alibaba Group, stated, “I think the NBA is in a very good place with respect to its relationship with China. China is actually the NBA’s biggest fan base. So what happened before, I think it’s water under the bridge.”
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Joe Tsai further expressed the NBA’s desire to resume games in China, highlighting the importance of fan interaction with players, “I think just having the fans have real, in-person sort of interaction with the stars. I think that’s going to be important.”
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Before the 2019 controversy, pre-season games in China were a regular occurrence. However, the fallout from Morey’s infamous tweet, now president of the Philadelphia 76ers, cost the NBA its largest fan base and potentially hundreds of millions in revenue. Tsai’s Brooklyn Nets were the last NBA team to play in China before the suspension.
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China remains the NBA’s second-largest market after the United States, generating significant revenue through TV rights, merchandise, and partnerships. Estimates suggest the NBA earned a record $500 million there in 2019 alone, highlighting the economic importance of this market. Notably, China boasts almost 400 million basketball fans, which exceeds the entire population of America!
The NBA’s connection with China goes beyond finances.
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Players like Yao Ming, a former Houston Rockets star, served as a bridge between the two cultures before he hung up his boots in 2011. He also had 9 All-Star appearances. More recently, Kyle Anderson became China’s first naturalized basketball player, competing in the FIBA World Cup. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward, whose Chinese name is Li Kaier, became eligible for Chinese citizenship through his maternal great-grandfather.
While challenges remain, Tsai’s optimistic outlook suggests a path forward, one built on the shared love of basketball. The Chinese market is projected to reach billions in sports sponsorship by 2027, presenting lucrative opportunities for the NBA and its partners. One can imagine Adam Silver eagerly awaiting the materialization of Tsai’s words, hoping to move beyond the now-infamous “costliest tweet in history”.
