NBA Pre-season Games Comes to China in 2004

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 03, 2003

NBA Pre-season Games Comes to China in 2004

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All star center Yao Ming will play in his hometown when the National Basketball Association announced to stage pre-season games in Beijing and Shanghai in October 2004 as part of the league's continuing effort to support the development and growth of basketball in China.

"We are excited about scheduling our first NBA exhibition gamesin China," said NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement on Monday.

"China has been our fastest growing global market and with the extraordinary success of Yao Ming, we anticipate the development of more elite players as the 2008 Beijing Olympics approach. We look forward to a wide array of cooperative projects with China's Sports Ministry, its Basketball Federation, and the Chinese Basketball Association to help continue the growth of basketball in China." Stern said.

The China NBA Games 2004 will be organized in conjunction with the respective Municipal Bureau of Sports of Beijing and Shanghai.It is the first time since 1979 NBA will send teamful players to China when the 1978-79 NBA champion Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards), traveled to China to play two exhibition games against the Chinese National team.

The 2004 China games will be the first time to see games playedbetween two official NBA teams in China. Details and specific dates of the games will be announced later along with a comprehensive schedule program of basketball and fan-development events to commence this fall and run through the 2003-2004 season.

In addition to the two games in China in 2004, the NBA also announced its international pre-season schedule for October 2003. There will be games in Mexico City, Mexico on October 5 (Dallas vs.Utah), San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 7 (Miami vs. Philadelphia), Paris, France on October 8 (San Antonio vs. Memphis) and Barcelona, Spain on October 10 (Memphis vs. FC Barcelona).

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Seattle SuperSonics will open their 2003-04 NBA regular season schedules with two games at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on October 30 and November 1. The rest of the 2003-04 NBA pre-season and regular season schedules will be announced later this summer.

The NBA has since established offices in Hong Kong and Beijing,China and has visited Asia several times over the years through various coaching clinics and player tours, including visits by Kobe Bryant in 2001 and the NBA Legends Tour in 2000. The NBA alsovisited China in 1982, with a group of NBA players, including All-Stars Alex English (Denver Nuggets) and Artis Gilmore (Chicago Bulls/San Antonio Spurs), who toured the country and participated in an exhibition game.

In 1985, as part of cultural and educational agreements reachedbetween the United States and China, the NBA invited the Chinese National team to the United States for a month to train and practice with legendary NBA coaches and other league personnel.

Since it's founding in 1946, the NBA truly has become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. Yao Ming is one of a contingent of 65 international players from 34 countries and territories on team rosters for the 2002-03 NBA season.

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