WNBA game in China could happen very soon: Adam Silver
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver delivers a speech ahead of the NBA pre-season games, at the Venetian Arena in Macau on Oct 9.
PHOTO: AFP
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MACAU – National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver said a Women’s NBA game in China is likely to happen “very soon”, but the league must first address the expiring collective bargaining agreement.
Speaking to CNBC during the first of two NBA pre-season games in Macau on Oct 10 and 12, he was asked when a WNBA game might take place.
“We have to get through a new collective bargaining agreement with our players,” he said.
“But once we do – there’s so much interest in women’s basketball here – I think we’d love to bring a WNBA game to Macau or to mainland China.”
The WNBA has held pre-season games in countries including Mexico and the UK, and the league staged its first regular-season game outside America, the United States when the Seattle Storm faced the Atlanta Dream in Vancouver on Aug 15.
While the WNBA has yet to play an official game in Asia, the NBA announced a multi-year partnership with the Chinese Basketball Association that includes the country’s men’s and women’s national teams receiving opportunities to train and compete in the US.
The pact also includes Chinese teams taking part in NBA Summer League and pre-season WNBA games.
The NBA is scheduled to play eight more games in Macau over the next four years and they may be additional games played in mainland China.
“This collaboration is a continuation of our long-term efforts to elevate the game of basketball in China at all levels,” Silver added. “We look forward to strengthening our collective commitment to developing the next generation of NBA and WNBA players from China.”
The WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Oct 31 and the sides are reportedly still far apart in negotiations, with several players recently criticising commissioner Cathy Engelbert
In other news, Miami Heat boss Erik Spoelstra has been appointed head coach of the US men’s national team up to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, USA Basketball said on Oct 14.
Spoelstra, who led Miami to back-to-back NBA championships in 2012 and 2013, was assistant coach of the US men’s team who won gold at the 2024 Paris Games. The 54-year-old was also an assistant coach to Steve Kerr at the 2023 Fiba World Cup, where the Americans finished fourth.
The US men’s team have won gold at the past five Olympics, with a total of 17 gold medals since the sport was first included in the Olympic programme in 1936.
REUTERS, AFP
