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Jonathan White

The new NBA season may have tipped off with a bang, as the champion Milwaukee Bucks beat the New Jersey Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors.
But neither of the season-opening games were shown on Chinese state television, where the NBA has largely remained absent from schedules since the end of the 2018-19 season.
CCTV has not listed any NBA games on its online schedule for the coming week, marking eight months since the station broadcast any action from the league, despite reports it would show last season’s All-Star Game in February.
In October 2019, CCTV pulled the plug on NBA coverage amid the fury surrounding a tweet posted by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters.

Both CCTV and Tencent, which streams NBA games to Chinese basketball fans online, immediately ripped up plans to show the 2019-20 season, though Tencent eventually relented – for all teams bar the Rockets.
While the Rockets returned to Tencent streaming in January, the Philadelphia 76ers remain blacklisted, with fans only able to see photos and reports on games instead of livestreams. Morey moved to the 76ers last year after leaving his role at the Rockets.
Two years on from last game will NBA return to China?
At the 2020 All-Star weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told the press he thought NBA teams or Team USA would soon play in China again, but that was before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,
The Lakers and the Nets had been in the country at the time of the tweet storm, as part of the NBA China Games. Their games in Shanghai and Shenzhen went ahead but were not shown by CCTV. No NBA teams have been back since, though Covid-19 has left China’s borders largely closed to overseas visitors.

CCTV showed the final two games of the delayed 2019-20 NBA Finals, which were played out in a Covid-19 “bubble”, with LeBron James leading the Lakers to victory over the Miami Heat last October.
The broadcaster said it had decided to allow the NBA to return to screens a year on from Morey’s tweet, having received “good will messages” and Covid-19 support from the league.
There have been no games shown since, despite reports the NBA would be back on Chinese television screens in March following the All-Star break, with the whole of the last season absent from terrestrial broadcasts.
NBA champion Sun Yue retires on eve of Chinese basketball season
The NBA has a long-running partnership dating back to the 1980s with Beijing-based CCTV, where broadcasts of games were a regular part of sports programming until the fallout from Morey’s tweet.
Tencent, the official digital partner of the league since 2009, signed a five-year extension in July 2019 which took its coverage through the 2024-25 season. The company first started streaming full games in 2015.
The NBA also signed a deal with short-video platform Kuaishou this week.


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NBA (National Basketball Association)

NBA still missing from Chinese television screens, as 2021-22 season tips off

LeBron James (left), Anthony Davis (centre), and Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers react during the second half of their 2021-22 NBA season opener against Golden State Warriors. Photo: AFP

The Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives against the Brooklyn Nets' Blake Griffin during the first half of the season opener at the Fiserv Forum on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2021, in Milwaukee. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images/TNS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 19: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after scoring during the second half against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on October 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Will NBA return to China? Two years on from Lakers vs Nets amid Morey tweet fury little has changed

Brooklyn Nets’ Theo Pinson drives against the Los Angeles Lakers' Danny Green near a Chinese national flag during an NBA China Games. Photo: AP

NBA champion Sun Yue retires on eve of Chinese basketball season

Los Angeles Lakers guard Sun Yue of China, celebrates after scoring his first NBA points against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2008. Photo: AP

China's Sun Yue (L) fights for a rebound with Qatar's M.Seleem Abdulla during their men's gold medal basketball match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha December 15, 2006. REUTERS/Issei Kato (QATAR)

CNS photo. 24Sep08.Sun Yue talks to the media in Los Angeles after revealing he has glandular fever and will miss the start of the Lakers' training camp. Sun, a guard from China, is hoping to earn a roster spot with NBA finalists. Photo: CNS

Jared Dudley defends LeBron James over Daryl Morey Hong Kong tweet criticism

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley sits on the bench during the third quarter in game five of the Western Conference first-round play-off series against the Portland Trail Blazers at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020. Photo: TNS

Houston Rockets return to China screens, 15 months after Hong Kong tweet ignited NBA controversy

LeBron James, of the Los Angeles Lakers, battles with James Harden, of the Houston Rockets, in an NBA game. Photo: AFP

Sport

Basketball

China


Basketball fans in China unable to watch NBA regular season games on state-owned broadcaster CCTV for third year running
Philadelphia 76ers also still absent from Tencent’s online streams, with lingering effects being felt from fallout of Daryl Morey tweet



Basketball fans in China unable to watch NBA regular season games on state-owned CCTV for third year running, with Philadelphia 76ers still absent from Tencent streams.


CCTV

Tencent

NBA still missing from Chinese television screens, as 2021-22 season tips off

Basketball fans in China unable to watch NBA regular season games on state-owned broadcaster CCTV for third year running Philadelphia 76ers also still absent from Tencent’s online streams, with lingering effects being felt from fallout of Daryl Morey tweet

Basketball fans in China unable to watch NBA regular season games on state-owned broadcaster CCTV for third year running

Philadelphia 76ers also still absent from Tencent’s online streams, with lingering effects being felt from fallout of Daryl Morey tweet