China could host regular season games in 2007, says Stern

BEIJING (Reuters) – Regular season NBA games could take
place in China as early as next year, league commissioner David
Stern said on Sunday.

The last time the NBA came to China was in October 2004
when the Houston Rockets, led by local hero Yao Ming, played
pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and
Beijing.

“We didn’t have the China game in the following year in
2005 because we were having a collective bargain then,” Stern
told state news agency Xinhua in Guangzhou.

“We don’t have it this year because of the preparation of
the world championship.

“But we are planning to play some games next year here. It
could be pre-season, or even regular season.”

Stern is in China to watch the U.S. play China and Brazil
this week in a warm-up tournament for the world championships,
which start in Japan on August 19.

Partly inspired by Yao Ming’s success, the NBA is hugely
popular in China and the league recently moved its Asian
operation to Beijing.

“China is the second-biggest market to the NBA, and
sometimes even bigger than the United States,” Stern said.

“We want to make the China game a continuous competition.
We’ll have pre-season games, regular-season games, national
competitions and coaching clinics here. China is such an
exciting market.”