🏀🇨🇳The NBA's sizable business in China is not at risk.
Basketball has a long history in China. The 800 million Chinese who watched NBA broadcasts last year aren't just going to abandon it bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
Basketball has a long history in China. The 800 million Chinese who watched NBA broadcasts last year aren't just going to abandon it bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
Few foreign institutions have proved as resilient in China as basketball.
🗓️The sport was introduced in the 1890s at missionary schools and YMCAs in ports and other cities where Western influence remained strong after the Opium Wars bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
🗓️The sport was introduced in the 1890s at missionary schools and YMCAs in ports and other cities where Western influence remained strong after the Opium Wars bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
China's 20th-century revolutionaries embraced the sport.
The game remained popular, in part because it required little setup and – unlike soccer – didn't affect agricultural land bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
The game remained popular, in part because it required little setup and – unlike soccer – didn't affect agricultural land bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
🎍In the 1930s, Red Army soldiers fashioned baskets out of bamboo.
By the early 1960s, China had become a regional basketball power bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
By the early 1960s, China had become a regional basketball power bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
In 1979, the Washington Bullets became the first NBA team to play in China.
📢When the Bullets’ head coach held a clinic during the trip, 19,500 Chinese basketball coaches showed up bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
📢When the Bullets’ head coach held a clinic during the trip, 19,500 Chinese basketball coaches showed up bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
📺In 1987, China's CCTV broadcast its first NBA matchup.
Basketball has been on an upward trajectory ever since, surging ahead of ping pong, diving, and even outpacing soccer, allegedly President Xi Jinping's favorite sport bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
Basketball has been on an upward trajectory ever since, surging ahead of ping pong, diving, and even outpacing soccer, allegedly President Xi Jinping's favorite sport bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
Could all that goodwill collapse if the government pressures the NBA’s partners into cancelling broadcasts this season?
The long history of failed Chinese boycotts over political matters suggests it won't bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
The long history of failed Chinese boycotts over political matters suggests it won't bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
The NBA enjoys an enduring popularity in China.
If the government cuts off access to games via official channels, China's rabid hoops fans won’t suddenly shift to the Chinese Basketball Association bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
If the government cuts off access to games via official channels, China's rabid hoops fans won’t suddenly shift to the Chinese Basketball Association bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
Instead, they'd use common technical workarounds to evade the block and continue watching – likely in resentful defiance.
The good news for the NBA, and its millions of Chinese fans, is that the government understands this risk, and is unlikely to take it bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
The good news for the NBA, and its millions of Chinese fans, is that the government understands this risk, and is unlikely to take it bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
"The NBA may feel like it has the weak hand in this matchup," writes @AdamMinter.
"But if this game drags on, the advantage will belong to the player with the crowd behind it." bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
"But if this game drags on, the advantage will belong to the player with the crowd behind it." bloom.bg/30TAoIJ
