Hong Kong (CNN) — As soon as he learned the NBA was returning to China, diehard fan Buke Liu scrambled to get his hands on tickets, paying almost a thousand dollars – a price you might expect for an NBA Finals game – for a ticket to a preseason match-up.

One of America’s most successful sporting exports, the NBA is hugely popular in China, and a rare cultural touchpoint between two nations increasingly seen as geopolitical rivals.

For Liu, and many Chinese fans, it’s been a long wait to go to a game. NBA teams, packed with global stars, have effectively been banned from setting foot in one of basketball’s largest overseas markets since 2019, following a political firestorm that drew the ire of Beijing.

And the pent-up demand has made seats at this weekend’s Phoenix Suns - Brookly

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