Six years after Daryl Morey's controversial post supporting Hong Kong protests, the NBA is pushing to rebuild its relationship with China. Joe Tsai and the Brooklyn Nets are playing a significant role in that process. Brooklyn arrived in Macao on Tuesday ahead of a pair of preseason matchups with the Phoenix Suns.
The games will mark the NBA's first in China since the Nets played in Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2019. Brooklyn has been among the teams at the forefront of the NBA's global marketing campaign over the last two decades. With Tsai as the team's owner and three international first-round picks entering the mix, that won't change anytime soon.
“It's a huge event,” said Nets rookie Egor Demin. “No matter where the NBA goes, but especially in China, because of the community here and how much you guys and all of Asia love basketball. I think that's really important for the NBA and for China.”
In the fallout from Morey's tweet, the Chinese government pulled NBA games off the air for three years. Numerous Chinese sponsors severed ties with the league.
Nets' preseason trip at center of NBA's push to mend China relationship
The NBA has worked to gradually mend those relationships in recent years. Brooklyn's return to the country marks the most significant push to date.
Tsai is adamant that Chinese fans are eager for his team's arrival.
“I was telling the players, when they go to Macao, when they step into the street, they’re going to be mobbed because the fan base in China has remained loyal,” Tsai told The New York Post's Brian Lewis. “They really love the NBA. And they really welcome the NBA to be back… It’s going to be really exciting. Despite all that [geopolitics], what’s going on in the world, having an NBA team travel that far, I think the fans really appreciate it. And I think it’s just good for the world to have people come, Americans go to China, Chinese people come to America. We have a Chinese player [Fanbo Zeng] on the team. It’s all going to be good.”
Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. has been feeling the love in Macao.
“The times that I've walked around the hotel and gone outside, there are fans waiting to take pictures,” Porter Jr. said. “I always really appreciate that, especially being so far from home, halfway around the world, and people still know who you are and want to come see you play. So I think coming out here and being able to play in front of them is definitely a blessing for us and for them.”
The Nets announced several community initiatives in conjunction with their return to China, including a series of youth clinics and a basketball court beautification project in Hong Kong.
