Mainland authorities pulled the plug on televised NBA games about a year ago after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey (above) tweeted support for Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3105231/nba-decision-shows-people-are-real-winners Comment
NBA decision shows people are the real winners
- Exchanges at the personal level have seen the return of popular US basketball to China screens, a welcome reminder of how sport can improve relations
The NBA returned to mainland screens as the Miami Heat defeated eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in game 5 of the finals. Photo: USA Today
The adage that sport and politics don’t mix does not stand the test of history.
The international community has used sport to freeze out an obnoxious regime, as in the case of the world boycott that helped dismantle the apartheid regime in South Africa. And it has been used to thaw a freeze, as in the role of so-called ping-pong diplomacy, or the exchange of table-tennis players, in reviving relations between China and the United States in the 1970s.
The latest example, in which Beijing has ended its ban on American NBA basketball from Chinese television screens, is not quite in the same league. But it serves as a reminder that when official bilateral relations sour, people-to-people exchanges need not suffer, and sport can even help improve relations.
NBA games are immensely popular on the mainland and profitable for American franchises. The authorities pulled the plug on it abruptly about a year ago after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters.
Observers held out little hope for a quick reconciliation amid the prevailing animosity towards China at the highest levels of the US government. But acts of goodwill between people paved the way for CCTV to announce an about-turn, citing the NBA wishing its mainland fans all the best for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, and praising their “positive contributions” to the fight against Covid-19.
Domestic media also reported the NBA had given medical equipment worth 18.5 million yuan (HK$21.4 million) to hospitals in Wuhan since the pandemic began. This was after the commercial interests of the NBA were said to have taken a US$400 million hit on the mainland.
This is the kind of communication needed to build a constructive relationship between China and the US. Beijing can also make use of this decision to show that no matter what happens in the White House following the November 3 election, it need not rule out normal people-to-people exchanges.
The NBA made a spectacular return to mainland screens – a thrilling game five of the finals in which the Miami Heat had kept their hopes alive by beating eventual champions the Los Angeles Lakers 111-108.