Ｆｕｌｌ Ｃｏｕｒｔ Ｐｒｅｓｓ

ＬＩ　ＸＩＡＯ

In the spring of 1987, David Stern, Commissioner of the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA), must have foreseen the promising Chinese market as he waited in the CCTV studio. He was there to offer a highlight tape of that year's All-Stur Game as a gift to the Chinese audience, mak-ing it the NBA's first broadcast in China. But it would be more than a decade before the spore really took off. In 2004, the first NBA game in China was a smashing success as Yao Ming's return with his team the Houston Rockets caused ticket prices tosoar Now, with NBA China going strong and 12 basketball arenas in the works, the NBA is making serious inroads in the world's most populous country.