The NBA is making its comeback as the biggest U.S. soft power in China

It’s been a six-year-long wait for Yun Hui, who arrived in the Chinese gambling hub to watch the Phoenix Suns take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, as the NBA returned to China after a political firestorm that saw it effectively banned from one of its most lucrative markets.

MACAO — It’s been a six-year-long wait for Yun Hui, who arrived in the Chinese gambling hub to watch the Phoenix Suns take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, as the NBA returned to China after a political firestorm that saw it effectively banned from one of its most lucrative markets.

“Every time we turn on the TV and we don’t see NBA games, it’s kind of sad,” Beijing-based Yun told NBC News, wearing the jersey of his favorite player, Brooklyn Nets’ Zeng Fanbo.

“It means a lot to me,” the 28-year-old risk manager said.

The NBA has long been one of the most popular U.S. cultural exports to China, where basketball is tremendously popular, with the league saying an estimated 300 million people play the sport there.

Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns drives to the basket against the Brooklyn Nets in Macao on Friday. Juan Ocampo / NBAE via Getty ImagesIn 2019, the league’s deep ties to China imploded over a tweet by Daryl Morey, the then-general manager of the Houston Rockets. Morey posted a message in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong at a time when the often-violent demonstrations brought the city to a standstill.