NBA ‘first class’ in China despite past turbulence, says Yao

NBA and China may have encountered turbulence in their relations over the years but retired great Yao Ming told Reuters the league is still “first class” in his home country.

Yao Ming, retired Chinese professional basketball player. (File Photo) | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and China may have encountered turbulence in their relations over the years but retired great Yao Ming told Reuters the league is still “first class” in his home country.

Yao, the president of the Chinese Basketball Association, soared to stardom in the United States as the eight-time All-Star for the Houston Rockets, an affable, 7-foot, 6-inch NBA big man who dominated the league before retiring in 2011.

READ | NBA 2023-24: Devin Booker, Suns slide by Warriors to open season

Yao propelled the league’s popularity in his home country but relations between China and the NBA have not always been smooth.

Chinese broadcasters stopped airing Rockets games in 2019 after general manager Daryl Morey posted a message in support of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and, earlier this year, former NBA player Dwight Howard appeared in a promotional video in which he referred to Taiwan as a country, prompting backlash.

“I have to say, the NBA is in the first class... (because) you know the players being exposed in China for so long,” Yao said, when asked about the past issues between China and the NBA.

“The players, the teams (are) all still very well welcome in China and (we had) a couple of players with (in) China just this past summer.”

Minnesota Timberwolves small forward Kyle Anderson competed with China at the FIBA World Cup, while the Miami Heat’s six-times All-Star Jimmy Butler embarked on a tour of the country over the summer.

Yao travelled to New York this week for the first time in nearly four years as part of a roughly 30-person Chinese delegation, and met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at a time when international participation in the league is at an all-time high.

“Everything looks (like it is) running very, very well (under) his management,” he said of Silver, who took the reins in 2014.

The trip coincides with the thawing of relations between China and another major sports body, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which concluded its China Open earlier this month after previously suspending competitions there over the disappearance of Peng Shuai.

Yao, a longtime friend of the former doubles number one, said he had met with Peng over dinner about two months ago and that she was doing well.