then-Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests<\/a> in Hong Kong on social media. <\/p>\nChina pulled NBA sponsorships and CCTV, China\u2019s state broadcaster, stopped airing games. Significant revenue for the NBA was lost.<\/p>\n
Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez looks on during the Nets\u2019 preseason win over Suns in Macao. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Nets play an important role in the NBA recapturing the lucrative Chinese market. Owner Joe Tsai, who co-founded Alibaba, is one of the most successful businessmen in China. <\/p>\n
Tsai is Taiwanese, which is a democratically run nation that considers itself sovereign, but China considers it part of its territory. <\/p>\n
The U.S. government has warned that an attempt by China to conquer Taiwan \u201ccould be imminent,\u201d though Tsai has largely publicly supported Chinese president Xi Jinping and his policies. Silver has previously said Tsai is \u201cinvaluable\u201d to the league\u2019s expansion in China.<\/p>\n
Cam Thomas shoots a jumper during the Nets\u2019 preseason win over the Suns in Macao. Getty Images<\/p>\n
As a result, the Nets are one of the most popular teams in China. <\/p>\n
And Zeng Fanbo, one of China\u2019s top prospects, got a shot in training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, though he was waived Wednesday as the Nets subsequently signed Grant Nelson, who has been with the team in camp.<\/p>\n
Fans were out in full force to support the Nets during the trip.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the fan event [was the best part of the trip],\u201d Cam Thomas said. \u201cComing out, having fun with the fans, enjoying that moment, seeing how it was a sold-out crowd, so that was dope to see and be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fun game and it\u2019s a global game and it\u2019s continuously growing every year,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s great that we have the opportunity to play on the whole other side of the world and play in front of fans who are die-hard about the sport. Over the years, it\u2019ll keep growing more and more and hopefully we inspire more kids to follow their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the importance to the league, this trip can be significant for the Nets. <\/p>\n
It provided valuable bonding time, and for a team that is counting on a record five first-round rookies to make up its core, it can perhaps mark the beginning of a new chapter for the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really big into it,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said, \u201cbecause we\u2019ll never forget this trip.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One part of the Nets\u2019 recent trip to China stood out in particular for Ziaire Williams. \u201cThe egg-tart…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":306985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[8952,3124,52487,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-306984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-adam-silver","9":"tag-brooklyn-nets","10":"tag-jordi-fernandez","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115381630675838168","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}