The NBA’s Long Road Back to China

A soft power breakthrough amid an escalating hard power rivalry.

A wide view shows players from two teams playing on a basketball court with a crowd of thousands of people in the surrounding arena seating. A jumbotron with a video of the game hangs overhead. October 14, 2025, 5:04 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

The National Basketball Association (NBA) returned to China after a six-year hiatus this weekend, staging two preseason games between the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets in Macau—the semi-autonomous territory in the country’s south that is best known for its casinos. It was in one of those casinos—the Venetian , owned by U.S. billionaire Miriam Adelson—that the Suns and Nets played in front of a of thousands of Chinese fans.

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