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The Miami Heat have arrived in China.
The Heat will play the Los Angeles Clippers in two preseason games. The first game was at the MasterCard center in Beijing today and the Heat beat the Clippers 94-80 led by LeBron James‘s 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. The second game will be at the Mercdez-Benz arena in Shanghai Oct. 14.
The Heat dropped their first preseason game versus the Atlanta Hawks before taking the 14 hour flight to China. Heat players and coaches are touring China in between games and practices. A few Heat players have been to China numerous times and have business affiliations with the highest populated country in the world.
James has been to China many times through Nike promotions, Shane Battier has been the face of the Li-ning shoe company and recently Dwyane Wade has followed Battier in signing a shoe deal with the Chinese company.
Basketball is the most popular sport in China and the NBA has made a big push of introducing and sharing the game in the country. Many former superstars now play for teams in China including Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, and Stephon Marbury. Many NBA players played in China during the lockout last season.
Even NBA superstar Kobe Bryant has flirted with the idea of taking his talents far east post-NBA.
But James has stated that he has no future plans of playing in China other than being on a NBA team.
The game is very popular and the NBA is embracing the fans and henceforth rewarding them by sending the Heat to play games there since they are the first defending NBA champions to make the trip.
The trip also benefits the Heat by giving the team a chance to get more chemistry through exploring and learning of a different culture together as an organization.
The Heat will benefit on and off the court from their trip to China.
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