Cover Coleman Wong and David Beckham at the NBA China Games 2026: Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena (Photo: courtesy of Patrick Leung)
Coleman Wong and David Beckham at the NBA China Games 2026: Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena (Photo: courtesy of Patrick Leung)
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Kyrie Irving’s comeback, David Beckham and Yao Ming in the building, and Diplo after dark: the second edition of the NBA’s Macau residency arrived bigger and louder than ever
Kyrie Irving waited almost 600 days to come back to the NBA, having torn the ACL in his left knee in March 2025. When he did return, on October 11 at The Venetian Arena, the Dallas Mavericks star got straight to work: his teammate Cooper Flagg found him on the right wing, Irving drove baseline and finished with a reverse layup. The Dallas bench was up celebrating straightaway, as was most of the stadium. Irving finished with a team-high 17 points in a 132-115 win over the Houston Rockets.
The crowd’s reaction was telling: the Rockets are about as close to a home team as an American franchise gets in this part of the world thanks to Yao Ming, the Shanghai-born player who spent his entire nine-year NBA career with the Houston team. Yao was in Macau for the NBA China Games 2026, the second edition of the competition held at Sands Macao’s 14,000-capacity arena, and given the roar from the crowd, the player’s popularity shows no signs of waning.
Kyrie Ivring at NBA China Games 2026: Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena (Photo by Patrick Leung)
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Last year’s debut saw the Phoenix Suns take on the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA’s first games in China since 2019. This time, the league sent the Battle of Texas: Mavericks against Rockets, blue against red. Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun were on the former team, Irving and reigning Rookie of the Year Flagg on the other, and while Houston took Friday’s first game 135-117, Dallas answered loudly on Sunday with Irving’s return.
Under a five-year agreement with Sands China, the NBA plays two preseason games a year at The Venetian Arena. The second iteration of the event has already made its impact and feels like a long-established fixture on Macau’s sporting calendar.
Miriam Adelson and David Beckham (Photo by Zed Leets)
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The guest list read like a cross-section of the sporting and entertainment worlds. David Beckham took a courtside seat next to Yao, Mirror’s Keung To performed at Saturday’s NBA Fan Day, which rapper MC Jin hosted, and K-pop group KiiiKiii handled halftime, while Hong Kong tennis player Coleman Wong and YouTube’s Stokes Twins were also among the crowd. NBA champions Ray Allen and Chris Bosh made the rounds, as did former New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin, whose Linsanity years still carry real weight with fans across the region. Also present was Patrick Dumont in his triple role as chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, chairman of Sands China, and governor of the Dallas Mavericks.
The games may have been the centrepiece, but the event was much bigger than simply sport. From October 7 to 11, Cotai Expo at The Venetian Macao hosted NBA House, a free public festival with close to 30 brand partners and exhibitors spanning basketball, music, fashion, food and tech, with fan activities such as shooting hoops on an interactive LED court and customising merchandise.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver (Photo: courtesy of Zed Leets)
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If the arena belonged to the players, the nights belonged to the DJs. Grammy-winning producers Mustard and Diplo headlined the official after-parties on Friday and Saturday respectively, with rappers Key Ng and Skai Isyourgod as special guests. Then there was the spectacle of the final night over The Parisian Macao, where 1,500 drones and a fireworks display launched from the replica Eiffel Tower, set to a synchronised NBA score.
All of these events were part of the broader NBA Cares x Sands Cares Community Impact Week 2026, which saw the NBA engage with the local community through youth events, basketball clinics, friendly games and mentoring.
Macau has spent years selling itself as more than a gambling destination, and a week like this does a lot of that work. For visitors, it came down to something simpler: a superstar’s comeback, a front row worth turning around for and parties that ran long into the night.
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Pete Laverick is a sports and lifestyle journalist for Tatler Hong Kong. A former professional rugby player, he brings an athlete’s perspective to his coverage of the city’s sports and fitness scene. A committed fitness enthusiast, Pete is always testing something new—from Hyrox to marathons and triathlons—writing with the first-hand insight of someone who has lived at the top level of sport. He also has a standing invitation from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss to watch the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena if he makes it to California.
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