NBA considering taking games to China
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is considering playing some of its regular season games in China, commissioner David Stern said.
The Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets, team of Chinese national Yao Ming, are playing pre-season games in Shanghai and Beijing.
With a rocketing economy and a population of over 1.3 billion, China offers huge marketing prospects - and the NBA's popularity is growing.
Stern said a season game in China was under discussion.
"I don't know how and I don't know when, because the cost could be quite great," he told a news conference.
"But certainly I can say we are watching with great interest the construction of the Olympic basketball arena.
"When it is finished, we think a good way to inaugurate the arena would be with such an NBA game."
Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games.
Yao's Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings 88-86 on Thursday, in the first NBA game to be played in China.
The 24-year-old centre was one of the first Chinese nationals to be allowed to head to the NBA.
He was taken by the Rockets as the top draft choice of 2002, and has established himself as one of the game's premier players.
-- Reuters
