BASKETBALL fans in Beijing cheered national broadcaster CCTV’s decision to resume broadcasts of NBA games Saturday after a year-long absence.

CCTV aired Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat — the first time the league appeared on the network since the rift that started when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for protesters in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Eighteen-year-old high school student Li Xinyu said he considered the timing meaningful following the death of Lakers great Kobe Bryant earlier this year and his former team’s subsequent playoff run.

“Yes, I am really surprised,” Li said. “It is really shocking and significant for us that we can watch the NBA Finals again on CCTV’s sports channel.”

And like most fans, 22-year-old migrant worker Deng Jinqi was just tired of watching games on his phone. “Now we can watch the game on a large TV screen,” he said.

CCTV halted its relationship with the NBA after Morey’s tweet. The broadcaster said it had taken note of good wishes extended to Chinese fans during the Chinese National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as “the goodwill continuously expressed by the NBA for some time,” including more than US$1 million in medical supplies sent to China by the league to assist coronavirus relief efforts.(SD-Agencies)