Sports

NBA Games Return to China Six Years After Hong Kong Fallout

The Brooklyn Nets' Noah Clowney shoots during a practice session ahead of the NBA pre-season games, at the Venetian Arena in Macau on October 9, 2025. The NBA returns to the China market this week with two pre-season games. — The Brooklyn Nets' Noah Clowney shoots during a practice session ahead of the NBA pre-season games, at the Venetian Arena in Macau on October 9, 2025. The NBA returns to the China market this week with two pre-season games.
Photographer: Eduardo Leal/AFP/Getty Images

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By Adrian Wong

October 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM UTC

The NBA is preparing for its return to China with preseason games in gambling hub Macau, six years after a fallout over the protests in Hong Kong put the relationship on ice.

The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns are playing the NBA China Games on Oct. 10 and 12 at the 14,000-seater the Venetian Arena, owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp. The last time the event took place was in October 2019, just before Daryl Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted on social media in support of Hong Kong’s protesters.