Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards Meet In Japan, Continuing NBA’s International Push

On Nov. 2 and 3, 1990, the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz played each other in Japan, the first two regular season games outside of North America for any major U.S. sports league. The NBA had held international preseason games since 1978, but the Suns-Jazz games represented commissioner David Stern’s desire take advantage of fans’ and sponsors’ interest in a burgeoning league and grow its worldwide appeal. The push has worked.

This weekend, the NBA returns overseas for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020 as the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards play in preseason games in Japan on Friday and Sunday. They will be the 15th and 16th NBA games in Japan, a country that has been embracing the sport even more in recent years.

Both games at the Saitama Super Arena north of Tokyo are sold out with fans drawn to the reigning champion Warriors as well as Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, who in 2019 became the first Japanese-born player selected in the first round of the NBA draft. During the 2021-22 season, Warriors guard Stephen Curry had the most popular jersey on the NBA Store’s Japanese website, while Golden State was the country’s most popular team as ranked by merchandise sales.

Japanese fans are also fond of Hachimura and Brooklyn Nets forward Yuta Watanabe, who grew up in Japan before coming to the U.S. to play a year of prep school basketball and then in college at George Washington University. Yuta Tabuse, who appeared in four games with the Phoenix Suns in 2004, is the only other player raised in Japan to play in an NBA regular season game.

People in Japan were exposed to NBA players during last year’s Summer Olympics in Japan, as well. And they have access to every NBA game, many of which are in Japanese, through NBA Rakuten, a streaming service that’s similar to NBA League Pass in the U.S. Next year, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines will host the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

“There’s real momentum in Japan around basketball,” said Ramez Sheikh, managing director of NBA Asia and India. “We’re going to help magnify that.”

The NBA will host other games outside of North America this season, too. The Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks are playing in two preseason games in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 6 and 8, while the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat meet on Dec. 17 in Mexico City and the Chicago Bulls face the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 19 in Paris.

The NBA has held more games in Mexico than any country besides the U.S. and Canada. It has also had 12 games in France, including a regular season game between the Bucks and Charlotte Hornets in January 2020, which was the most recent NBA game held outside of the U.S. and Canada.

The Abu Dhabi games, meanwhile, will be the first time the league plays in the United Arab Emirates. The UAEUAE
games are part of a multi-year partnership announced in November 2021 between the NBA and the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi.

Besides hosting NBA games in the UAE, the league earlier this year launched a Jr. NBA league in Abu Dhabi for kids in the country and held an NBA 2K League exhibition at the Middle East Film & Comic Con in March in Dubai.

“Similar to the work we’re doing in Japan, we’re bringing a number of opportunities for participation (in the UAE) whether it be youth development or community outreach and fan events to the market,” said Samantha Engelhardt, the NBA’s vice president of global strategy and innovation. “The Abu Dhabi games are not just a standalone event but really part of a partnership that has multiple years to it.”

When choosing which teams play overseas each year, Sheikh said “it’s a very collaborate process” between the league and franchises in which the NBA juggles what’s best for business with making sure teams don’t travel too often overseas.

For the players and coaches, the international games are a mixed bag as the travel can be burdensome but also present opportunities to see places they’ve never visited and expand their reach outside of the U.S. Warriors guard Stephen Curry, for instance, has a marketing partnership with Rakuten, a major Japanese e-commerce and online retailer that also has extensive deals with the NBA and the Warriors. Rakuten is the Warriors’ jersey patch sponsor and is the NBA’s main sponsor along with Nissan for this weekend’s games.

“It’s not the ideal way to go through training camp,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on the ‘Damon and Ratto’ radio show in San Francisco this month. “It’s not how you draw it up, but it’s an incredible opportunity to go to Tokyo, which is such a great city.”

Kerr added: “Any sort of training camp disruption is far outweighed by the fact of being in Tokyo with the team and growing the game and seeing the Japanese people cheer on Steph Curry and the team. It’ll be a thrill.”

Despite some complaints about travel and jet lag, the NBA will surely continue to play a few games overseas each year as it looks to continue its international growth. The NBA declined to reveal how much revenue it generates outside of the U.S. and Canada, but it has 13 offices outside of North America and claims that nearly 70% of its social media followers reside outside the U.S.

This weekend is not just about the games. Far from it, in fact, as it presents an opportunity for the league to host business partners, engage with fans and promote the sport. On Saturday, the NBA will host an event at Saitama Super Arena where fans can meet some of the Warriors and Wizards, see slam dunk and 3-point contests and attend a concert featuring Yuzu, a Japanese rock duo. During the week, the league will also have a clinic for young female players to interact with former WNBA players, while the teams will participate in community service events.

“Ninety-nine percent of our (international) fans and most of our international partners don’t get an opportunity to attend games,” Sheikh said. “It’s really important that we can have a live game experience for our fans in the market.”