Odd. The international sports movement is now observing China with a look of terror, crossing out one by one all the events planned in the country over the coming months. But the NBA seems indifferent to the risks linked to the coronavirus.
She even announced a possible Team USA match in Shanghai before the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Despite the health crisis, business continues for the NBA. They remain a priority. Present in Chicago last weekend for the All Star Game Weekend, Adam Silver suggested that the American Olympic team could stop in China on the way to the Tokyo 2020 Games. According to the NBA commissioner, she could play a preparation match. Chain ESPN believes he knows that he could oppose it to France.
« We don't put pressure on them, explained Adam Silver. It’s a decision that doesn’t depend on us, and I’ll tell you that I don’t even know who it depends on. Our view is that we should do what we did before. I know, thanks to certain figures, that there is still a huge interest in the NBA in China, so in my opinion there should be a return to normal fairly quickly, but I cannot say exactly when. »
The project may surprise you. Of course, such a meeting remains very conditional. It would not be contested before next July, probably a few days before the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Games. But it is not certain that the risks of contamination will then be reduced.
The IOC and the Japanese have been repeating with one voice, for several days, that the scenario of a cancellation or postponement of the Tokyo Games is not current. However, athletes from China are currently not welcome in Japan and the rest of the world. They are subject to a quarantine that is not conducive to performance.
But Adam Silver makes no secret: NBA business has not been at its best in China since last fall. The commissioner assures that the league should record a loss of income of “ several hundred million dollars. » The figure of 400 million dollars is mentioned.
In question, a tweet from Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted last October, just before an NBA pre-season meeting in China. He expressed his support for the demonstrators in Hong Kong.
China was quick to react. Several major companies in the country have suspended their commercial relations with the NBA. The public channel CCTV stopped broadcasting league matches. Broadcasting has still not resumed.
« It’s significant, I’m not going to say otherwise., recognizes Adam Silver. We were taken off the air in China for a time and our many business partners felt it was inappropriate to have any dealings with us. But I don't have the feeling that there is any irreversible damage to us there. We accept the consequences of our system and our values. This is a position no business would want to be in, but it is what it is."
Adam Silver hopes for a “ back to normal " fast enough. A visit by the American Olympic team to Shanghai, on the road to the Tokyo Games, could speed things up.
