MACAO — The National Basketball Association returns to China for the first of two Macao games on Friday, and the impact extends beyond the preseason.

The weekend marks a major milestone for the NBA, as years of rebuilding its relationship with its second-largest market culminate with the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets facing off in the Venetian Arena here. For the NBA, it could mean unlocking future growth in China as television viewership declines in the U.S.

The NBA’s return to China comes after a six-year hiatus following 2019 comments by Daryl Morey, then-Houston Rockets general manager, voicing support for Hong Kong protestors and setting off an international crisis. For the next three years, the league was largely absent from Chinese airwaves in China. Nearly every Chinese sponsor cut ties with the NBA.

But the NBA’s history in China dates back to the 1970s. Since 1979, the NBA and USA basketball have played a total of 48 games in China, according to NBA data. Demand for the 2025 Macao games, set for Friday and Sunday, was high: At the upper end, tickets were going for more than $3,000.

And there are signs of progress off the court, too.

The league on Thursday announced a renewed partnership with Alibaba, making the tech company’s cloud unit the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China. The partnership already included a dedicated NBA section across Alibaba platforms that allow fans in China to engage in content or shop for NBA merchandise.

Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai owns the Nets.

The NBA is hoping to tap into basketball fans among China’s 1.4 billion-person population as the league grapples with cord-cutting and changing viewership habits at home. Last season, television viewership dipped.

Meanwhile, in China, the NBA has won a massive fan base. It’s the most-followed sports league on social media, according to the league, with 425 million followers across league, team and player platforms. To put that number in perspective, that’s more than the entire population of the United States.

The league has also been investing in infrastructure in China. It now has four flagship stores, 45 NBA kids stores, seven NBA e-commerce flagship stores and more than 5,000 partner retail stores across the country.

“We’ve created a lot of fan experiences here, and the goal is to really make something special where the fans of the NBA in Asia and China can really get a true taste of what the NBA has to offer,” said Patrick Dumont, Dallas Mavericks owner and Las Vegas Sands president, who was an architect of the NBA’s return to China. Las Vegas Sands owns the Venetian in Macao, where the two preseason games will be played.

To raise awareness and give back to the local communities, the league has hosted more than 140 community outreach events and built 100 spaces for children and family to learn, live and play in China since 2004. More than 400 current and former NBA players have participated in this program.

This week, the Nets are hosting 13 youth clinics across Hong Kong and Macao, in addition to a basketball court refurbishment project in Hong Kong.

It’s not just at the league level where professional basketball is tapping into China’s potential. At least seven NBA teams and 10 individual players are working with East Goes Global, a marketing and consulting firm that bridges the western brands with Chinese audiences.

“We’re able to localize a ton of their western-facing content, creating new, unique content, even showing up to a lot of the team’s media days to shoot China specific content,” said Andrew Spalter, founder and CEO of the company.

East Goes Global, run by brothers Andrew and Matthew Spalter, also works directly with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson to grow his international profile in China.

“Jalen is actively speaking to his Chinese audience more so than most athletes have ever done in the past. He’s trying to learn calligraphy, he’s eating Chinese foods, he’s collaborating with Chinese influencers and celebrities,” said Matthew Spalter, chief operating officer at East Goes Global.

Dumont said the Macao games are part of a multi-year deal and that executives are already thinking about next year.

“I think it’s the classic win, win, win,” he said. “It’s great for the NBA because it gets to bring its best product, top teams, real games, real experiences, and it allows local fans who maybe don’t have the ability to get to the U.S. to get to experience the NBA and see basketball played at the highest level.”