Brooklyn Nets to Play Two Preseason Games in China Next October

The Nets will take on the Phoenix Suns in two preseason games in Macao next year, marking the NBA’s return to China.

Dec 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Yongxi Cui (8) before a game against the Orlando Magic at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets will play two preseason games in China against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 10 and 12, 2025, in news first broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst and later confirmed by the NBA.

Both of Brooklyn’s games against Phoenix, the NBA’s first in China since 2019, are set to take place at the Venetian Arena in Macao. The league plans to host two preseason games every year over the next five at the Venetian, per the South China Morning Post. This is part of a “multi-million dollar deal.”

The Nets are owned by Joe Tsai, who was born in Taiwan. Cui “Jacky” Yongxi, on a two-way deal with Brooklyn, is the only Chinese player in the NBA.

China had stopped airing NBA games in 2019 until 2022, after the NBA supported then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's freedom of expression regarding his social media post supporting ongoing protests in Hong Kong against the ruling Chinese government. League commissioner Adam Silver said this lost the NBA “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

ESPN’s report cites Michael Ma, chief executive officer of NBA Asia, as having “assisted” in repairing the relationship between both parties. Ma, a graduate of Rutgers University and Columbia Business School, had previously been the CEO of NBA China. 

The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns will be playing two preseason games at The Venetian Arena in Macao on Friday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 12! pic.twitter.com/dHHKPKU4dw

— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2024

Macao, one of the world’s gambling hubs, has been referred to as the “Las Vegas of the East.” The region reportedly first overtook its American counterpart in gambling revenue in 2006. Macao is the only region in China with legalized casino gambling. 

The Venetian Arena, where the Nets’ preseason games will take place next October, previously hosted the NBA in 2007 when the Cleveland Cavaliers played the Orlando Magic. The 14,000-seat arena is on the premises of the Venetian hotel and casino resort, which is owned by the Las Vegas Sands (LVS) conglomerate. 

Patrick Dumont, the president and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, was an "integral driver" of the NBA's new initiatives in Macao. Dumont, who grew up in Brooklyn, is also currently the governor of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs and LVS are both majority owned by Miriam Adelson, the eighth richest woman in the world.

LVS has another link to the Nets, as the company was awarded a 42-year lease for the Nassau Coliseum this August. The conglomerate intends to build a casino and resort on the property. The Coliseum is currently home to the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate team.

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