Warriors and Wizards to journey to Japan for 2 preseason video games previous to 2022-23 NBA season

With lower than a month to go within the common season, issues are actually heating up within the NBA. Main honors resembling MVP and the scoring title are nonetheless up for grabs, and seeding battles in each conferences determine to go right down to the wire. We’ll then head straight into what ought to be an exciting spherical of video games within the playoffs. 

However whereas most are targeted on the right here and now, the oldsters on the league workplace are already planning for subsequent season. On Monday, the NBA introduced that the World Video games sequence will quickly make its return. In late September, the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards will journey to Japan for 2 preseason video games previous to the 2022-23 season. 

The video games can be held on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 on the Saitama Tremendous Area, which hosted the basketball competitions through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. These would be the NBA’s first video games exterior of North America for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic started and would be the league’s first journey to Japan since 2019. 

“We’re honored to tip off the 2022-23 NBA season in Japan,” Warriors President & Chief Working Officer Brandon Schneider mentioned in a press launch. “All through our four-plus yr partnership with Rakuten, we’ve cast many deep, significant relationships in Japan. Taking part within the upcoming NBA Japan Video games provides us nice optimism in regards to the continued progress of basketball around the globe and the chance to unite by way of a shared love of the sport.”

The NBA’s historical past in Japan dates again to 1990 when the Phoenix Suns took on the Utah Jazz in what was then the primary regular-season recreation performed exterior North America by a significant U.S. sports activities league. In these 30-plus years, the NBA’s presence has grown steadily. 

Within the 2019 NBA Draft, the Wizards chosen Rui Hachimura with the No. 9 general decide, making him the primary Japanese-born participant taken within the first spherical. His presence on the Wizards made them a pure option to take part in these video games.