The NBA announced on Monday that it will be returning to China for the 2026-27 preseason.

Dallas and Houston will be featured in a pair of preseason games at The Venetian Arena in Macao. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns played at The Venetian in October during the preseason. Mavericks team governor Patrick Dumont is the owner of Sands Corp., which owns The Venetian Arena. 

“I could not be prouder of having the Mavericks come to Macao and have the team experience the incredible hospitality that Sands properties provide,” Dumont said in statements released by the NBA.

Houston also makes sense with the Yao Ming connection. The Rockets drafted Ming No. 1 overall in 2002, and he spent eight years in Houston. Ming was an eight-time All-NBA selection, a five-time All-Star, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2023, Ming was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. 

This past October, the NBA returned to China for the first time since 2019, when Daryl Morey, the Rockets general manager at the time, posted a tweet showing support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet was quickly deleted, but the damage had already been done. NBA games were taken off TV in China for a few years following the fallout, but that rift has since been mended.

Multiple NBA stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Jimmy Butler have visited China in recent years as part of promotional tours have drawn great support while visiting. The Mavs and Rockets will play in Macao at The Venetian Arena on Oct. 9 & 11.