NBA returns to China with Nets-Suns preseason in Macau

The NBA returned to China this week for the first time since 2019, staging two preseason games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns at the Venetian Arena in Macau on Friday and Sunday and accompanying the matches with a broad program of fan events and community outreach across Hong Kong and Macau.

The Nets will run 13 youth clinics at multiple venues in the two Greater Bay Area cities around the games, and the league has opened a 14,000 square metre NBA House at the Cotai Expo area offering exhibitions and interactive experiences that combine basketball with music, fashion and technology. Brooklyn Sports Entertainment, the Nets' parent company, said it will fund efforts to revitalize basketball courts in Hong Kong as part of its corporate social responsibility work. One clinic will be held at the NBA House in Macau.

On the court the meetings offer both teams a global stage to show offseason changes and experiment with rotations ahead of the regular season. Phoenix has retooled its roster and will rely on Devin Booker as its primary star. Booker said the trip matters to fans and future players in China. "It is super important we have a big fan base out here in China,...