A Chinese state broadcaster streamed the first NBA game in China in two years.
The Chinese-funded CCTV aired the Los Angeles Clippers playing the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, the first game aired since the NBA was blacklisted by the Chinese broadcast group over pro-Hong Kong tweets from former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
“After removing NBA games from their networks in October of 2019, CCTV Sports made the decision to resume airing NBA games Tuesday night,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told the Washington Examiner. “NBA games have aired in China continuously for nearly 35 years, including this season on a number of other services. We believe broadcasting games to our fans in China and more than 200 other countries and territories is consistent with our mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the game of basketball.”
“We have always supported and will continue to support members of the NBA family expressing their views on social and political issues.”
Some Chinese fans praised the league’s return to state media on Chinese social media, according to Insider. Others argued that CCTV’s willingness to broadcast NBA games shows that the station has “no backbone.”
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China is one of the NBA’s most prominent foreign markets, valued at $5 billion. That placed the sports organization at odds with Chinese officials when Morey tweeted in support of the 2019 Hong Kong protests. Morey eventually deleted the tweet, but it was enough to lead several Chinese business partners and celebrities to cut ties with the league. CCTV blacklisted the NBA days after the tweet.
The company quietly reestablished its relationship with China, including streaming games through the Chinese technology company Tencent. However, Tencent has limited game access. This includes not broadcasting any games featuring the Philadelphia 76ers due to Morey’s role as general manager, according to the China-controlled Global Times. They also declined to broadcast Boston Celtics games due to their connection to China critic Enes Kanter Freedom. Kanter was released from his team in mid-February after being traded.
The NBA has made several efforts to try and recover its relationship with China, including the decision to avoid speaking on China’s more controversial issues, such as its suppression of Hong Kong protesters or the genocide of Uyghurs. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told GQ in 2020 the country’s human rights abuses were just “one issue” and that they were not enough to stop the NBA from conducting business within Chinese borders.
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“Virtually every major U.S. company” does business in China, Silver told the New York Times in a March 24 report. “So then the question becomes, why is the NBA being singled out as the one company that should now boycott China?”
Representatives from the CCTV did not respond to requests for comment.
