NBA eyes big opportunities as games return to China after 6-year absence

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00:00The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns played an NBA game in China for the first time in six years on

00:05Friday. It was a preseason game and not on mainland China, but none of that mattered.

00:11The NBA is patching up the relationship with its most important international market.

00:18A market featuring an estimated 425 million basketball fans is a goldmine for the NBA and

00:26its partners. The league was frozen out of China after a 2019 war of words and tweets

00:32over democratic protests in Hong Kong. The league was largely absent from Chinese airwaves for the

00:38next three years and almost every Chinese sponsor cut ties with the NBA. The fans, however, remained

00:45and Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker knows the significance of this weekend's trip.

00:50You know, I think basketball without borders is super important being here on their homeland and

00:55letting them see us play in person. You know, I think for the youth and, you know, the next

01:01generation of Chinese players getting this experience on their land will just, you know, open up

01:09their inspiration. To that end, the NBA and the Chinese Basketball Association announced a

01:16partnership on Friday focused on youth basketball and growing the game by developing elite Chinese

01:22players, coaches and referees. 16 Chinese players have played in the NBA and WNBA, according to the league.

01:29Having the next Yao Ming playing alongside Booker, Shy Gilgis Alexander or Cooper Flagg will grow the game

01:37exponentially. Commissioner Adam Silver spoke to CNBC courtside. They know they need to continue to

01:43generate more high quality players, men and women, and it goes to the quality of their youth program,

01:52the quality of their training. So we entered into a partnership with them. The partnership also

01:57includes providing opportunities for Chinese teams to take part in the NBA Summer League and in WNBA

02:04preseason games in the United States. The reverse could be true as well. Silver said a women's showcase in

02:11China could be next after a collective bargaining agreement with the WNBA players is reached.

02:16And now everywhere I go, just sort of just in the United States, people want to talk about the WNBA

02:21now. And it's great. They want to talk about women's basketball here. And I think we've we've

02:25loved to bring a WNBA game to Macau or to mainland China. Chinese tech giant Alibaba announced another

02:32multi-year deal with the NBA on Friday. They'll provide AI and cloud services for the league's

02:38operations in China. Alibaba is owned by Joe Tsai, who also owns the Brooklyn Nets.

02:44For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.