The N.B.A. Returns to China After Six Years

I'm in Macau, the gambling capital of the world. I'm here for the NBA's return to China. In the past six years, there hasn't been a single NBA game here. looking at those big banners draped over the buildings. Reminds me that I came back here in 2019. The players sat in their hotel and saw workers tearing down the same banners and tearing their faces off the building. A few days earlier, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protesters. Well, this made the Chinese government very upset. The NBA supported him. We make no apologies for Daryl exercising his freedom of speech. And then chaos came. All this week. The sponsors refused. And many players worried whether they would even be allowed to return home if the situation worsened. It was so surreal. they lost about $400 million. Just from this situation: the Chinese market is huge for the NBA. There are a lot of basketball fans here… and the league has worked to develop them for decades. So to come here to Macau and play in China again is a very big deal for the league. when you ask anyone around the league how those games turned out? The name they mentioned was Patrick Dumont. He is a top manager at the Sands casino. And the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. In 2021, the Chinese government was reviewing the so-called casino concessions here in Macau. In these concession agreements, the government required casinos to spend a certain amount on non-gaming activities such as entertainment or sports. And Sands had an arena at the Venice, so Dumont saw bringing the NBA here as an opportunity to fill that need. One of the other major players here was Joe C., owner of the Brooklyn Nets. Joe Tsai is the chairman of Alibaba Group, the Chinese technology giant. He has many deep connections with the Chinese government, networks, and has spent a lot of time over the past few years meeting with Chinese officials, holding events celebrating Chinese culture. they spoke to the Chinese media and said that this market is very important for us. We care about this market more than any other team in the NBA. They even launched a reality show. This is a competition between dance teams to select dancers for their games here in Macau. Voice: “Brooklyn Nets will find the best dancers in China.” Because these teams have a huge amount at stake. The league saw what happened when things went wrong and they lost that market, at least for a short time. there is a feeling that everything must go right, and that this is a great opportunity to regain what they have lost.