TANIA GANGULI, 马语琴2025年10月14日上周五，菲尼克斯太阳队与布鲁克林篮网队在澳门威尼斯人体育馆进行了一场NBA季前赛。这是NBA时隔六年重返利润丰厚的中国市场后举办的首场赛事。 Tyrone Siu/ReutersIn 2021, the casino mogul Patrick Dumont approached the N.B.A. commissioner with a brazen idea: Bring American professional basketball back to China.2021年，博彩业大亨帕特里克·杜蒙向NBA总裁提出了一个大胆的建议：让美国职业篮球重返中国。The N.B.A.’s relationship with Beijing had been in tatters for two years, after a team executive’s tweet in support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The resulting controversy cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars. Partners pulled their sponsorships. China’s state broadcaster CCTV stopped airing games.当时自从一支球队的总经理在网上发帖表示支持香港的民主抗议活动后，NBA与中国政府的关系破裂已有两年。帖子引发的争议已给联盟造成了数亿美元的损失。合作伙伴取消了赞助。中国的官方电视台央视停止了赛事直播。Western companies that clash so publicly with Beijing rarely get second chances. But Mr. Dumont, an executive with one of the world’s most profitable casino operators, believed that the National Basketball Association could get back into China through Macau, the semiautonomous city where his company ran several highly lucrative casinos.与中国政府如此公开对抗的西方公司很少会获得第二次机会。但杜蒙认为NBA能通过澳门重返中国，他是一个全球最赚钱的赌场运营商的高管。他的公司在半自治的中国城市澳门经营着几家利润丰厚的赌场。Mr. Dumont and his family had billions at stake. Las Vegas Sands, which is owned by his mother-in-law, Miriam Adelson, and other family members, was selling its Nevada properties to focus on Asia. The Covid-19 pandemic had devastated profits. And Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, was tightening control of Macau and insisting that casinos diversify beyond gambling.此事关系到杜蒙及其家族的数十亿美元利益。他的岳母米丽亚姆·阿德尔森和其他家庭成员拥有的拉斯维加斯金沙集团当时正在出售公司在内华达州的资产，把精力集中到亚洲市场。新冠病毒大流行给公司利润造成重创。当时中国最高领导人习近平正在加强对澳门的控制，坚持要求赌场将业务多元化到博彩业以外。米里亚姆·阿德尔森（左中）与女婿杜蒙（右中）是拉斯维加斯金沙集团的商业伙伴，金沙在澳门经营赌场。他们共同拥有达拉斯独行侠队。That last demand meant that Sands needed to spend big on outside entertainment or risk its license.最后这条要求意味着金沙集团需要在赌场以外的娱乐活动上花大钱，否则公司的牌照会面临风险。The league’s commissioner, Adam Silver, was intrigued by a Sands partnership.与金沙集团合作的事情引起了NBA总裁萧华(Adam Silver)的兴趣。What followed was years of diplomacy by Sands, whose owner, Ms. Adelson, is among President Trump’s top donors. Sands executives met repeatedly with Chinese and Macau officials and hosted events celebrating “one country two systems,” Beijing’s term for its governance of Hong Kong and Macau. The Adelson family, with Mr. Dumont at the helm, even bought a majority stake in an N.B.A. team, the Dallas Mavericks. (He said that the purchase had no connection to his efforts to bring the N.B.A. to Macau.)那之后，金沙集团进行了多年的外交努力（集团所有者阿德尔森是给特朗普总统捐钱最多的人之一）。金沙集团的高管多次与中国和澳门政府的官员会晤，并举办了庆祝“一国两制”的活动，“一国两制”是中国政府用来描述香港和澳门治理的说法。以杜蒙为首的阿德尔森家族甚至买下了NBA达拉斯独行侠队的多数股权。（他称这笔交易与他把NBA带进澳门的努力无关。）All of it culminates in Macau this weekend in two preseason games between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns at the Venetian Arena, a Sands property. The games are part of a five-year agreement for the N.B.A. to return to China.所有这些努力上周终于在澳门取得成功：布鲁克林篮网队和菲尼克斯太阳队在金沙集团旗下的威尼斯人体育馆举行了两场季前赛。这是NBA重返中国五年协议的一部分。“It’s certainly a belief of ours that the two world’s largest economies should have continued dialogue,” said Ron Reese, a Sands spokesman. “It’s in everybody’s best interest.”“世界两个最大经济体之间应该继续对话，这肯定是我们抱的信心，”金沙集团发言人罗恩·里斯说。“这符合所有人的最佳利益。”The story of how the deal came together is an example of how casino profits, connections and quiet diplomacy healed a political wound. It is a win for the N.B.A., which lost more than $300 million in its rift with Beijing. It is also a win for Chinese leaders, who have sought to burnish China’s global image through influencers, sports figures and other celebrities.完成这笔交易的过程是赌场利润、人脉关系，以及低调外交如何治愈政治伤口的一个例子。达成协议对NBA来说是一场胜利，与中国政府关系破裂导致该联盟损失了逾3亿美元。交易对中国领导人来说也是一场胜利，他们一直在寻求通过网络红人、体育明星和其他名人来提升中国的全球形象。“Sports exchanges between China and the United States reflect public sentiment and serve both sides’ interests,” the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.“中美体育交流反映民意，符合双方利益，”中国驻美国大使馆表示。去年12月，杜蒙（右三）与其他篮球高管宣布NBA季前赛重返中国。The N.B.A. never abandoned its Chinese ambitions. It kept its China offices open. Teams hired experts to put content on Chinese social media. Executives from the Brooklyn Nets, which is owned by Joe Tsai, the chairman of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, met with Chinese officials and diplomats. The league donated to China during the pandemic and installed the son of a former CCTV executive at the helm of N.B.A. China.NBA从未放弃其在中国的雄心。它始终维持着中国办公室的运营，各球队聘请专家在中国社交媒体上发布内容。由中国科技巨头阿里巴巴集团董事长蔡崇信所有的布鲁克林篮网队的高管还与中国官员及外交官会面。疫情期间，NBA向中国捐赠物资，并任命前中央电视台高管之子执掌NBA中国。Mr. Silver said that the league made no promises to China to curtail speech, and that the N.B.A. would defend the rights of players and team officials to speak freely. But league and team officials said they were keenly aware of the consequences of another controversy.萧华称，NBA未向中国承诺限制言论，并将维护球员及球队官员自由发声的权利。但NBA及球队高管均表示，他们深知再引发一起争议可能导致的后果。“In our job, we have to talk about what’s the most important thing, which is to speak through the game,” Jordi Fernández, the Nets coach, said in Macau this past week.“在我们的工作中，必须明确核心——通过比赛传递信息，”篮网队主教练霍尔迪·费尔南德斯上周在澳门表示。Chaos in a Crucial Market关键市场的动荡风波The October 2019 preseason trip to Shanghai and Shenzhen should have been an easy moneymaker.2019年10月NBA赴上海、深圳的季前赛之旅，本应是一场轻松的吸金活动。The N.B.A. sent its marquee franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers, to play the Brooklyn Nets. Two of the stars, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, were to face off in a country that loved American basketball. At peak viewership, more people watched the N.B.A. finals in China than in the United States, according to estimates in the Chinese news media.NBA派出了招牌明星球队洛杉矶湖人队对阵布鲁克林篮网队。勒布朗·詹姆斯与凯里·欧文这两位球星本将在中国这个热爱美国篮球的国家上演对决。据中国媒体估算，NBA总决赛在中国的收视人数峰值超过美国本土。The trip came amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Millions of people were taking to the streets, some of them clashing with the police, in a high-profile challenge to Mr. Xi’s power over the city.此次赛事举办期间，恰逢香港民主抗议浪潮高涨之际。数百万人走上街头，部分人与警方发生冲突，这场高调抗议直指习近平对香港的管制权。Days before the games, Daryl Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted an image on Twitter that said, “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”比赛前几天，时任休斯顿火箭队总经理达里尔·莫雷在Twitter上发布图片，配文“为自由而战，与香港站在一起”。Derek Chang, then the chief executive of N.B.A. China, recalled what happened next: “Everything started to explode.”时任NBA中国首席执行官张墀驹回忆起后续情景：“一切开始失控。”With Chinese officials irate, the N.B.A. released two statements — the Chinese version much more contrite than the English. That angered just about everyone. Mr. Silver gave interviews defending Mr. Morey’s right to free speech.中国官方对此表示愤怒，NBA随后发布了两份声明——中文版本的语气远比英文版本更显懊悔。这一做法几乎激怒了所有人。萧华则通过采访表态，维护莫雷的言论自由权利。2019年，香港示威者集会声援休斯顿火箭队总经理达里尔·莫雷。The broadcaster CCTV announced it would cease airing N.B.A. games. The Lakers and Nets watched from their Shanghai hotel as workers removed ads for the game, peeling their faces off the building across the street. Mr. James, in an interview with The New York Times last year, remembered wondering, “How fast can we get out of here?”中央电视台宣布暂停转播NBA赛事。湖人队和篮网队在上海下榻的酒店内目睹工作人员拆除赛事广告，将球员的肖像从街对面的建筑外墙撕下。詹姆斯去年在接受《纽约时报》采访时回忆，当时他心里在想：“我们能多快离开这里？”Mr. Chang said he spent the next few months “trying to look for the avenue back” to China. He did not see one.张墀驹表示，接下来的几个月里，他一直在“寻找重返中国市场的途径”，但始终未能找到突破口。A Big Bet on Basketball对篮球的巨额押注2019年，球员们在上海下榻的酒店里目睹街对面大楼工作人员撤下宣传海报的场景。Macau is the world’s casino capital, with gambling returns dwarfing those of Las Vegas. In 2021, when Mr. Dumont broached the idea of N.B.A. games, Macau accounted for nearly 70 percent of his company’s revenue.澳门是全球博彩之都，其博彩收入远超拉斯维加斯。2021年杜蒙提出举办NBA赛事的想法时，其公司近70%的营收来自澳门。A former Portuguese colony, Macau was reclaimed by China a quarter-century ago and declared a special administrative zone. Like Hong Kong, it faces increasing pressure from Beijing as Mr. Xi strips away some of its independence.澳门曾是葡萄牙殖民地，25年前回归中国，成为中国的特别行政区。与香港类似，随着习近平逐步削弱其自治权，澳门面临着来自北京日益增大的压力。One pressure point was gambling. Foreign casinos need licenses, called concessions, to operate. And as it negotiated the 2022 renewals, the Macau government was demanding: higher taxes, the right to cancel concessions in the name of national security and, crucially, more spending on events unrelated to gambling.博彩业是其中一个施压焦点。外资赌场需获得名为特许权的牌照才能运营。2022年澳门政府协商特许权续期时提出了多项要求：提高税率、有权以国家安全为由撤销特许权，还有关键的一点是，要求增加与博彩无关的活动投入。Like sports.体育赛事便是其中之一。High rollers had long used casino junkets to evade China’s restrictions on moving cash internationally. The city had a reputation as a haven for bribery. Las Vegas Sands even paid an S.E.C. fine in 2016 to settle accusations of foreign corruption (the company admitted no wrongdoing).长期以来，高端赌客通过赌场中介规避中国对资金跨境流动的限制，澳门也因此有了贿赂避风港的名声。2016年，拉斯维加斯金沙集团甚至就外国腐败指控向美国证券交易委员会支付罚款以达成和解（该公司未承认存在不当行为）。Mr. Xi was cracking down on junkets and corruption. Leaders wanted to rebrand Macau as family friendly — with casinos footing the bill.习近平当时正在打击赌场中介及腐败行为，官方希望将澳门重新打造为适合家庭游玩的场所——重建的相关费用由赌场承担。Sands suddenly needed to spend billions on outside entertainment to guarantee its license. The arena at the Venetian had hosted mostly concerts and would need to be modernized. But a big-ticket event like the N.B.A. could help publicize the Venetian on the mainland, where casinos are banned from advertising.金沙集团突然需要投入数十亿美元用于外部娱乐项目，以确保特许权续期。威尼斯人的场馆此前主要用于举办演唱会，亟需现代化改造；而NBA这类高规格赛事能帮助威尼斯人在禁止赌场广告的中国大陆提升知名度。2006年，谢尔顿·阿德尔森（中）与妻子查看澳门威尼斯人场馆模型。NBA重返中国的赛事在该赌场的综艺馆举行。 Alex Hofford/European Pressphoto Agency“We started thinking about our next phase of investment, which is part of our concession renewal. How can we invest more and innovate in both tourism and hospitality?” Mr. Dumont said. “We felt like the N.B.A. would be a good way to do that. We had the arena. We had the obviously very strong fan base in China.”“我们开始思考下一阶段的投资计划，这也是特许权续期的一部分。如何在旅游和酒店业务上加大投入、实现创新？”杜蒙表示。“我们认为NBA是实现这一目标的绝佳选择。我们有场馆，中国显然也有庞大的球迷基础。”Tiptoeing Toward Reconciliation小心翼翼的和解之路There were signs that Beijing was open to reconciliation.有迹象表明，中国政府对和解持开放态度。In February 2020, the N.B.A. sent $2.65 million in medical supplies to Hubei Province, the center of the Covid-19 outbreak, earning it accolades in the Chinese state press.2020年2月，NBA向新冠疫情重灾区湖北省捐赠了265万美元医疗物资，此举得到中国官方媒体的赞誉。That year, the league named Michael Ma, the son of a well-regarded former CCTV executive, as the new head of its China operations. The network aired two N.B.A. finals games that year and resumed broadcasting a regular slate of N.B.A. games in 2022. That “sent a signal to the rest of the community, other current business partners or potential business partners, that we were no longer being punished,” Mr. Silver said.同年，NBA任命中央电视台一位广受认可的前高管之子马晓飞担任中国区新任负责人。中央电视台当年转播了两场NBA总决赛，并于2022年恢复了NBA常规赛的常规转播。萧华表示，这“向业界其他方——无论是现有商业伙伴还是潜在合作伙伴——释放了一个信号：我们不再处于受惩罚状态”。The following year, Mr. Dumont and his family bought the Mavericks. The N.B.A. had no qualms about being in business with a casino operator. The league hosts a tournament each summer in Las Vegas, where Tilman Fertitta, the Rockets owner, owns the Golden Nugget. Mr. Silver has long supported legalized sports betting.次年，杜蒙及其家族收购了达拉斯独行侠队。NBA对与赌场运营商合作并无顾虑：联盟每年夏季都会在拉斯维加斯举办赛事，火箭队老板蒂尔曼·费尔蒂塔拥有当地的金块赌场；萧华也长期支持体育博彩合法化。The China deal was not a factor in the N.B.A. approving the Mavericks sale, Mr. Silver said. But it had advantages. As an owner, Mr. Dumont would have a stake in the league’s success in China. Additionally, the Venetian Arena was controlled by a private company, rather than the state. “It reduces the number of variables that could go wrong,” Mr. Silver said.萧华称，与中国的合作协议并非NBA批准独行侠队出售的考量因素，但该协议确实存在优势：作为球队老板，NBA中国市场的成功关乎杜蒙的切身利益；此外，威尼斯人由私人公司控制，而非政府机构。萧华表示：“这减少了潜在风险因素。”The Adelson family has long played informal diplomatic roles. In the 2024 election, Ms. Adelson was the third-largest donor to Mr. Trump. She and her husband, Sheldon Adelson, repeatedly spoke with Mr. Trump about foreign policy, including, in Mr. Adelson’s case, trade policy toward China. Just before Mr. Trump’s inauguration this year, Sands’s chief executive met with a Chinese vice minister to discuss trade and “the company’s growth in China,” according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency.阿德尔森家族长期扮演着非正式外交角色。在2024年大选中，阿德森夫人是特朗普的第三大捐赠者。她与丈夫谢尔顿·阿德尔森曾多次就外交政策与特朗普沟通，其中谢尔顿还曾谈及对华贸易政策。据中国官方媒体新华社报道，今年特朗普就职前夕，金沙集团首席执行官曾与中国一位副部长会面，探讨贸易问题及“公司在华发展”。Mr. Dumont did not say when the N.B.A. came up in discussions. But he said his pitch to the government focused on making Macau a broader tourism destination, just as Mr. Xi wants.杜蒙未透露会谈中是否提及NBA，但他表示，自己向中国政府阐述的核心思路是将澳门打造成更全面的旅游目的地，这与习近平的愿景一致。“When we explain the context about using the N.B.A. to come to Macau and have it be a very prominent feature of tourism for the city, everyone was really excited,” he said.他说：“当我们阐述借助NBA赛事吸引游客来澳门，使其成为澳门旅游业核心亮点这一构想时，所有人都表现出极大热情。”In December, three years after Mr. Dumont raised the idea, the league announced a deal to play preseason games in Macau.去年12月，杜蒙提出这一想法三年之后，NBA正式宣布协议，将在澳门举办季前赛。Mr. Silver returned to China in March for the first time since 2019.2025年3月，萧华自2019年后首次重返中国。He said the N.B.A. and the Chinese government would need to be flexible in their renewed relationship. “If this is about ideological purity on either side,” he said in an interview, “it will never be achieved.”他表示，NBA与中国政府在重启的合作关系中需保持灵活性。“如果双方都追求意识形态上的纯粹性，”他在采访中说，“事情永远无法做成。”Joy Dong自香港和澳门、Kevin Draper自堪萨斯州劳伦斯、Tariq Panja自伦敦对本文有报道贡献。Sheelagh McNeill和Susan C. Beachy对本文有研究贡献。Tania Ganguli撰写有关体育界的金钱、权力和影响力以及它们如何影响更广泛文化的报道。马语琴(Mara Hvistendahl)是《纽约时报》国际版面调查记者。可以通过电子邮件与她联系：mara.hvistendahl@nytimes.com翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。