NBA-Houston Rockets return to screens in China: SCMP

Great Wall Pan Asia Holdings

11/01/2021 06:44

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Houston Rockets fans in China were able
to watch them play for the first time in 15 months on Monday,
the South China Morning Post reported, after a team official's
tweet in support of Hong Kong protesters in 2019 led to their
games being blacked out.
    Chinese state television had resumed airing National
Basketball Association (NBA) games on its sports channel on Oct.
10, almost a year after broadcasts were halted following a tweet
from then Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H02UT
    Tencent, which has exclusive internet streaming rights for
the NBA in China, broadcast the Rockets' 120-102 defeat to
champions Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, with viewers in China
catching the action early on Monday.
    Houston enjoy significant support among basketball fans in
China thanks to Yao Ming, who was drafted first overall by the
Rockets in the 2002 Draft and played for them until 2011.
    The report added that games involving the Philadelphia
76ers, who Morey joined as chief of basketball operations last
year, are still not being shown in China.

 (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford
)
 ((Shrivathsa.Sridhar@thomsonreuters.com;))