This could be a great opportunity for sports diplomacy with China. The Chinese professional basketball league is popular, and the NBA is big in China as well.

NBA Considering Taking Games to China: "BEIJING (Reuters) - The NBA is considering playing some of its regular season games in China, commissioner David Stern said Friday.

The Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets, team of Chinese national Yao Ming, are playing pre-season games in Shanghai and Beijing.

With a rocketing economy and a population of over 1.3 billion, China offers huge marketing prospects -- and the NBA's popularity is growing. "
  ¶ 10/15/2004 07:10:00 AM