The NBA story in China, from the man who took it there

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Former NBA commissioner David Stern shared his story of the globalization of the NBA, especially the development of cooperation between the league and China, on Tuesday at the fourth China-US Sports Forum in New York.

"It all started from a friendly contest," Stern recalled, according to Tencent Sports. "It was in late 1984, I was talking to several leaders of the Chinese Basketball Association. I told them that we would really appreciate it if China's men's basketball team could visit America."

The wish soon came true as the Chinese national team traveled to the US and had a game with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The connections between China and the league grew, which led Stern to realize Chinese people's passion for basketball and China's great potential as an unexplored market.

Several years later, the commissioner took a few video tapes and visited CCTV's headquarters in Beijing with NBA's international broadcasting director. He thought he could meet with some managers of the station and interest them in broadcasting the NBA.

But he was turned down because he was not on the appointment list. However, Stern responded: "Okay, I can wait."

The introduction of the NBA to China came at one of the league's best times, the era of Michael Jordan. /AFP Photo

Finally, the NBA signed a broadcasting contract with CCTV and agreed to provide game signals for free, only sharing funding profits from advertisers. This was a significant step in the globalization of the NBA as it officially opened the gate to the Chinese market for the league.

As Chinese households became more and more familiar with the sport, another historic opportunity was placed in front of Stern: Chinese basketball player Yao Ming was selected with the first pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2002 NBA draft. Yao's entering the NBA secured Chinese basketball fans’ attachment to the league.

"Yao Ming is like a booster," Stern said. "Chinese fans learned more about the NBA cities and culture around the United States while Americans witnessed and understood what Chinese power is, both through Yao."

Yao Ming became the main connection between China and NBA. /AFP Photo

With his unique far-sightedness, Stern soon took advantage of Yao Ming's existence and literally brought NBA games to China – the first NBA China Games took place in Beijing and Shanghai in 2004. Chinese people no longer had to go abroad to watch top basketball games.

After more than two decades of development, China has become the second-largest market for the NBA, which has set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Stern said he owed the success to the power of basketball itself: "Basketball can bring people together. Like many sports, it advocates confidence, hard work, discipline and teamwork. Basketball can combine two countries so people from both sides can share information, feelings and knowledge, and that is what I have been trying to achieve."