The Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers are to add their names to the list of clubs who have visited China when they play a pair of exhibition contests next season as part of the NBA China Games, the league said on Tuesday.
The games are to be the 25th and 26th played in China, while the Mavericks and 76ers are to become the 16th and 17th teams.
The pre-season contests are to be held on Oct. 5 in Shanghai and Oct. 8 in Shenzhen.
“We are excited to welcome the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks to China next pre-season,” NBA China CEO David Shoemaker said in statement. “The 25th and 26th NBA games in China mark another milestone in our efforts to bring the authentic NBA experience to our passionate Chinese fans.”
The Mavericks, who failed to qualify for a playoff spot this season, feature 13-time NBA All-Star and 2011 NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki. The 76ers, who are back in the post-season this year, are led by dynamic Australian and rookie of the year candidate Ben Simmons.
“When I played in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I witnessed China’s enthusiasm for basketball firsthand,” Nowitzki said. “It will be a fantastic experience for our franchise to play in China for the first time.”
“We’re also excited about the possibility of reconnecting with two great Chinese players who played for the Mavericks, Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian,” he added.
The NBA has relationships with a network of television and digital media outlets in China, including a 31-year partnership with China Central Television.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but