The NBA maintains intact its commitment to a global schedule of the preseason and regular-season games. This was confirmed in a call with international media by the deputy commissioner of the competition Mark Tatum at the start of a new course marked by the pandemic. The idea of the league is to play games in China and Europe again from the 2021-2022 season.
“We anticipate that once it is safe and healthy to do it again, we will recover the international calendar of the preseason and regular-season games,” said Tatum, who also touched on other sensitive issues such as the league’s relationship with the Chinese government.
“We certainly have a long history with China, more than 40 years doing business there. We want to maintain our commitment and personal exchange with hundreds of millions of fans that we have there “, said the diplomat, the executive.
Last year, the NBA landed in Paris and Mexico City during the regular season. The uproar over a tweet by Daryl Morey, then GM of the Houston Rockets, about the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong sparked an earthquake that still brings a queue for league business. Despite everything, the two opening matches could be seen yesterday on Tencent, the Chinese platform with rights in the Asian power.
On another of the burning conflicts in this new pandemic season, the coincidence with the Olympic Games, Tatum also showed the conciliatory will of the American competition: “We must ensure the best calendar for all those involved.”
“My expectation is that our federation, FIBA , and the IOC will work to accommodate the regulations, including on issues of limitations to define templates,” Adam Silver had previously commented to US journalists.
