David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball
Association (NBA), said Sunday that he is planning to restore the
NBA China Game next year, which could feature some regular-season
games for the first time in China.
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The NBA bring two pre-season games between the Houston Rockets
and the Sacramento Kings to China in 2004, the first time the NBA
matches being played in China.
"We didn't have the China Game in the following year in 2005
because we were having a collective bargain then. We don't have it
this year because of the preparation of the World Championships,"
Stern said.
"But we are planning to play some games next year here. It could
be pre-season (games), or even regular season (games)," said Stern,
who is here for the US team's warm-up against China and Brazil for
the world championships.
The tickets for the China-US game, which will be played on
Monday, are sold up to 3,800 yuan (about US$475), and are much
higher in the black market.
The price here is almost the same as those of the 2004 China
Game in Beijing and Shanghai.
"China is the second biggest market to the NBA, and sometimes
even bigger than the United States," Stern added.
The NBA Asia, the Asian bureau of the league, moved its
headquarter from Hong Kong of China to Beijing last year, and set
up a Shanghai branch to explore the Chinese market.
It expanded from 20 people to 50 in two years and has signed
global partner contracts with several Chinese companies.
"We want to make the China Game a continuous competition. We'll
have pre-season games, regular-season games, national competitions
and coaching clinics here. China is such an exciting market," Stern
said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2006)