NBA in China

Development

The CBA Dongguan Basketball School is a year-round NBA training center for elite players aged 12-17. The first such NBA facility anywhere in the world opened in Nov 2011. Since then the state-of-the-art school has trained more than 1,300 youth players. The NBA and CBA joint coaching program has trained nearly 780 coaches, including the men's and women's Chinese national team head coaches and Beijing Ducks head coach Min Lule, who led the Ducks to their first CBA championship in 2012 and repeated in 2014.

Games & Events

The NBA has played 16 games in four Chinese cities since 2004. NBA Global Games 2014, featuring the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings, will play on Oct 12 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and on Oct 15 at the MasterCard Center in Beijing.

The third edition of NBA Nation - the league's grassroots touring event - visited 14 cities from July 25 to Sept 14.

Consumer Products

NBA apparel and footwear is available in 2,200 adidas stores in China. The NBA Tmall e-commerce site has grown significantly since its launch in fall 2012.

Programming

14 media partners in China provide fans with unprecedented access to games and content through TV, Smart TVs, PCs and mobile devices.CCTV has been a broadcast partner since 1989.

NBA.COM

Entered into partnership with LeTV to provide games, highlights and statistics via Smart TVs, Over-The-Top Set-Top Boxes, PCs and mobile devices. Renewed partnership with Sina and Tencent provides more comprehensive NBA content on NBA.com/China, SINA NBA section and Tencent NBA section.

Social Media

The NBA is the most popular sports league on social media in China with more than 70 million followers on Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo, Tencent Qzone and Tencent WeChat (as of July 2014). The official Weibo accounts of all 30 NBA teams were launched on Sina Weibo in 2013. The NBA official account on Tencent WeChat was launched in 2012, allowing fans to get the latest NBA news, scores, stats and event information on this social platform There are 164 NBA player accounts on Sina and Tencent Weibo.

Social Interaction

Since 2004, NBA Cares has built 44 spaces where children and families can live, learn and play in eight cities throughout China and has supported community outreach initiatives ranging from education to health and wellness and grassroots basketball programs. The Yao Foundation NBA Hope School was officially launched in 2013 by Yao and Dikembe Mutombo.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/10/2014 page24)