NBA to play first game in Shenzhen

NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo poses with jerseys of the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers at the billboard of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on March 25. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Brazil, China and four other countries will host games as part of the National Basketball Association's third annual NBA Global Games initiative, including the NBA's first game in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Later this month, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Charlotte Hornets will play a pair of games in China as part of the campaign, with the first contest on Oct 11 in Shenzhen at the Shenzhen Universiade Center. The second will be held in Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Oct 14.

A trip to Shenzhen will be the Hornets' first opportunity to play a game in China, while the Clippers will be returning to China for the second time in franchise history. (The Clippers played a pair of games in 2012 against the Miami Heat in Beijing and Shanghai.)

The Clippers will be led by eight-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul, five-time All-Star Blake Griffin, NBA champion Paul Pierce and NBA All-Defensive First Team selection DeAndre Jordan.

The Hornets'roster features 2013-14 All-NBA Third Team selection Al Jefferson, emerging stars Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, together with Chinese fan favorite Jeremy Lin.

As part of the NBA's outreach to its international fans, six teams have been selected for the 2015 installment of the NBA Global Games.

Five exhibition games will be played over a two-week period in October (Oct 6-17), and two regular-season games will be played as well at a later date — one each in Mexico City (Dec 3) and London (Jan 14).

The NBA also will feature a game in Rio de Janeiro between the Magic and Brazilian basketball club Flamengo on Oct 17, the league's third consecutive year hosting a game in Brazil. The league announced the final slate of games on July 22.

Games will be played in Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Spain and England, and the on-court action is to be supplemented by interactive fan events and NBA Cares community programs. Social media and marketing programs will support the Global Games across a variety of platforms as well.

Partaking in the 2015-16 Global Games are the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors.

Basketball has established a major international presence with NBA games broadcast in 215 countries and territories and in 47 languages. The NBA has staged nearly 150 preseason and regular-season games in close to 20 countries and territories since the NBA's first international game in 1978.

In 2004, the NBA hosted a pair of preseason games in Shanghai and Beijing as part of the first NBA China Games, but the league decided to unify its international tour under the NBA Global Games banner in 2013.

Since then, the league has staged 18 games in China, with the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings playing in the latest pair of games in October 2014 (Beijing and Shanghai).

Following NBA Global Games 2015, the NBA will have played 20 games in China since 2004.

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com