(Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version to note that NBA games are appearing on some smaller TV networks in China.)
While other news has dominated sports headlines since the standoff began in 2019, the Chinese government continues to quietly keep the NBA largely off the air in the world’s largest basketball market.
The TV exile began in October 2019 when then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters faced with brutal crackdowns by mainland China’s authoritarian communist government.
It was a costly tweet for the NBA. Beijing quickly started the competition’s matches off the air and off the country’s major streaming service, a big blow to a competition that craves the massive Chinese crowd and its money.
A year later, the deadlock turned out to be a thaw. State-run China Central Television (CCTV) announced on October 9 that it …