TheNBA Global Games are a series of games featuring NBA teams that are played outside the United States and Canada. Its purpose is to bring teams from theNational Basketball Association (NBA) to play games against either another NBA team or a foreign club.
The games themselves are played under NBArules, which differ slightly from theFIBA rules under which the foreign teams normally play. Court markings and dimensions also differ slightly.
The first official overseas game featuring an NBA team was an exhibition matchup between theWashington Bullets andMaccabi Tel Aviv on September 7, 1978. Thethen-defending champions lost 98–97 at theYad Eliyahu Arena inTel Aviv,Israel. The Bullets would play three more exhibition games the following year inBeijing andShanghai in China, and inQuezon City in thePhilippines.
In 1984, a series of exhibition matches pitting theNew Jersey Nets,Phoenix Suns andSeattle SuperSonics against local European clubs were held in Israel, Italy,West Germany and Switzerland. Then in 1988, theAtlanta Hawks played against theSoviet Union national basketball team in a three-game series inTbilisi,Vilnius and Moscow, becoming the first NBA team to play in the Soviet Union.
In 1987, theMcDonald's Championship was introduced. While the first edition was held inMilwaukee, the following editions of the event were held in Europe, with the NBA teams emerging victorious against their European counterparts in each staging. The McDonald's Championship was discontinued in 1999.
The first regular season NBA games outside North America were held in Tokyo, Japan in 1990, with thePhoenix Suns and theUtah Jazz splitting the two-game series. Since then four other editions of the NBA Japan Games were held, with the last games being played inSaitama in 2003.
In 1991, theMiami Heat and the Washington Bullets played a preseason game inNassau, Bahamas, marking the first NBA preseason game in the Caribbean. The following year, theHouston Rockets and theDallas Mavericks played a preseason game inMexico City, in the first NBA game held in Latin America. Several other preseason matches would follow in theDominican Republic andPuerto Rico (under the name NBA Challenge), but it was not until 1997 that the NBA decided to hold its first regular season game in Latin America, featuring the Mavericks and the Rockets in Mexico City.
While the NBA has had a history of sending teams to Europe to play against the local clubs, it was not until 1993 that the league decided to send two of its teams to Europe to play a pair of preseason matches against each other. An exhibition series between theOrlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks was held in London, United Kingdom, a precursor of what would later be called the NBA Europe Live Tour. Further games were held in Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Spain and Turkey. It was not until 2011, however, that a regular season matchup was first played in Europe. The first regular season games in London pitted the New Jersey Nets against theToronto Raptors, with the Nets sweeping the two-game series.
In 2004, the NBA held a pair of preseason games in Shanghai and Beijing, as part of the NBA China Games. The two-game series between theSacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets also marked the homecoming of sorts forYao Ming, who as the top overall pick of the2002 NBA draft and a perennial all-star, helped popularize the NBA in China. The China Games eventually became a regular in the NBA's preseason schedule.
In 2013, the NBA decided to unify its overseas tours under one banner: the "NBA Global Games".[1] The newly renamed event witnessed the first NBA preseason game held inSoutheast Asia, with theIndiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets facing each other in thePhilippines. In addition, a preseason game between theWashington Wizards and theChicago Bulls in Brazil marked the first NBA preseason match in South America. The league was scheduled to hold a pair of regular season matches in Mexico and United Kingdom, but the game in Mexico City between theSan Antonio Spurs and theMinnesota Timberwolves on December 4 never started due to a generator malfunction inside theMexico City Arena, and was postponed to April 8, 2014, at theTarget Center inMinneapolis.
The 2014 NBA Global Games began in October with twoSan Antonio Spurs friendlies versusEuroLeague teamsAlba Berlin andFenerbahçe Ülker at Berlin and Istanbul respectively. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat played a preseason game at theHSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Then the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings played two matches at theMercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and theMasterCard Center in Beijing. Like the previous season, two regular season Global Games were scheduled in Mexico City and London; the Mexico City game between the Timberwolves and the Rockets on November 12 was played without incident.
For the2015–16 season, the NBA scheduled two regular season games to be played outside the United States and Canada. The first game, between theBoston Celtics and theSacramento Kings, was scheduled to be played on December 3, 2015, at theMexico City Arena; the Celtics defeated the Kings 114–97. It marked the NBA's third regular-season game in Mexico City.[2][3] The second game, between theOrlando Magic and theToronto Raptors, was played on January 14, 2016, atThe O2 Arena in London. It marked the NBA's sixth regular-season game in London.[4][5]
In October 2019, the games in China were met with backlash followingHouston Rockets general managerDaryl Morey's support of the2019–2020 Hong Kong protests over the proposedextradition bill, which Hong Kongers feared would allow mainland Chinese officials to detain them despite Hong Kong's autonomy.[6][7] TheChinese Basketball Association's suspended of its relationship with the Rockets[6][8][9] and all Houston Rockets-related items were removed from theTmall andJD.com sites and the team's games were removed from broadcasting onTencent.[10] Several days later, Morey and the NBA each issued a separate statement addressing the original tweet, with Morey saying that he never intended his tweet to cause any offense and the NBA saying that it was regrettable, which resulted in backlash from American politicians who called it "a betrayal of fundamental American values". Further fallout from the tweet included the decision byChina Central Television to cancel the broadcasting of two NBA preseason games, pro-Hong Kong protest demonstrations held at preseason games in the United States involving teams from the Chinese Basketball Association, the cancellation of NBA Cares community events in Shanghai, criticism by then-presidentDonald Trump of the perceived double standards by the reactions of specific coaches to NBA response relative to their past criticisms of his policies, and the suspension/termination of all mainland Chinese sponsors of the NBA. The NBA eventually returned to China in 2025 after signing a five year deal to play two preseason games atVenetian Arena inMacau.[11]
Following years ofhiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA Global Games returned for the2022–23 season with two regular season matchups. The NBA Mexico City Game 2022 saw the Heat face the Spurs on December 17, 2022, at theMexico City Arena inMexico City. The NBA Paris Game 2023 featured a matchup between theChicago Bulls and theDetroit Pistons on January 19, 2023, at theAccor Arena inParis.[12]
In November 2021, the NBA and the United Arab Emirates signed a multiyear partnership agreement. The NBA made its first trip to Abu Dhabi for two preseason games between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks in October 2022. The second time two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves were held, in October 2023. The NBA returned to the Etihad Arena third time for two preseason games between the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics, held on October 4 and 6, 2024. The league faced criticism from rights groups, with theHuman Rights Watch accusing the NBA of helping the United Arab Emirates in "sportswashing" itspoor human rights record. On September 30, 2024, HRW sent a letter to the NBA, asking it to ensure that the preseason games do not become a distraction, alleging the United Arab Emirates of using major sporting events to polish its image. A group of human rights organizations also called for the NBA to cancel the Abu Dhabi games, citing the country's involvement inthe ongoing Sudan crisis.[13]
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