(Editor’s note: This story is updated from an earlier version to show that NBA games appear on some of the smaller TV networks in China.)
While other news has dominated sports headlines since the stalemate began in 2019, the Chinese government continues to keep the NBA quietly largely on the air in the world’s largest basketball market.
The TV exile began in October 2019, when then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey wrote on Twitter in support of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong facing violent repression by the authoritarian communist government in mainland China.
It was an expensive tweet for the NBA. Beijing has quickly launched league games on the internet and from the country’s major streaming service, a major blow to a league that longs for the huge audience of Chinese circles and its money.
A year later, there seemed to be a thaw in the impasse. China Central Television (CCTV), the state, announced on October 9 that …