(FILES) Protesters shout slogans as they hold flyers at the Southorn Playground in Hong Kong on October 15, 2019, during a rally in support of NBA basketball Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and against comments made by Lakers superstar LeBron James. The NBA returns to the lucrative China market October 2025 with two pre-season games following a six-year absence after a team official tweeted his support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The world's second-biggest economy effectively cut ties with the league in 2019 after NBA executives stood behind then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) / To go with AFP story Basket-NBA-Macau-China-politics-US, ADVANCER by Holmes Chan and Tommy Wang (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)