Will NBA return to China? Two years on from Lakers vs Nets amid Morey tweet fury little has changed
- First NBA China Games saw Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets play in 2004 before most recent between Nets and Lakers in 2019
- League’s involvement with China has remained a hot-button issue but Covid-19 has kept the NBA away so far
October 12 marks two years since the last NBA game in China when the Los Angeles Lakers played the Brooklyn Nets in Shenzhen.
That game – the second of the 2019 NBA China Games – came two days after the same teams met in Shanghai.
The record will show that the Nets won both games but the preseason tour that will be long remembered for the controversy surrounding a tweet supporting Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters sent by then Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey.
The tweet – which was swiftly deleted – has cast a long shadow, with the NBA’s relationship with China an issue that many in the US have politicised, particularly in contrast to the league’s speaking up on other issues such as Covid-19 vaccinations and Black Lives Matter.
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Hong Kong basketball fans angered by LeBron James’ comment on Daryl Morey’s tweet