On this day in 2004: The NBA plays its first game in China

Twenty-two years ago on October 14, the NBA staged its first game in China. At Shanghai Indoor Stadium, the Houston Rockets edged the Sacramento Kings 88-86 in a preseason exhibition that Guinness World Records still cites as the first time an American professional sports league played on Chinese soil. Yao Ming, the hometown centerpiece in a Rockets jersey, scored 14 points. Three nights later in Beijing, the Kings answered 91-89 — and a long China Games story had its opening chapter.

October 14, 2004: Sacramento's Chris Webber drills a 55-foot shot to beat the third quarter buzzer during an NBA Preseason game against Houston at Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China.

The Rockets defeated the Kings, 88-86. pic.twitter.com/YruFyOEKk4

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) October 14, 2026

Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Oct. 14, 2004

Guinness frames the venue as Shanghai Stadium and the date as 14 October 2004; contemporaneous coverage and the video tip that recirculated today call it Shanghai Indoor Stadium — the city gymnasium packed for Yao’s homecoming. The Rockets started Juwan Howard, Jim Jackson, Bostjan Nachbar, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Sacramento countered with Peja Stojakovic, Brad Miller, Chris Webber, Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin. Bennett Salvatore, Mike Callahan and Leon Wood worked the game.

Yao dunked in the seventh minute and later finished another basket off a McGrady assist. Kings guard Liu Wei, China’s own NBA face on the Sacramento side, entered in the second quarter and knocked down a jumper; Yao fouled him late in the half. The quarters ran Sacramento 27-18-27-14 and Houston 18-30-19-21. Webber’s 55-foot heave at the third-quarter buzzer became the night’s viral instant — a rainbow that beat the horn even as Houston closed out the two-point win. Rockets reserves that night included Dikembe Mutombo, Charlie Ward, Tyronn Lue, Maurice Taylor and Ryan Bowen.

Beijing three nights later — and a Guinness line

The tour wrapped Sunday, October 17, 2004, at Capital Stadium in Beijing. There the Kings flipped the script, 91-89. Guinness World Records lists the NBA as the first U.S. pro sports league to stage games in China on that Shanghai date, with Yao leading the Rockets’ 88-86 win and the Beijing rematch completing the inaugural pair.

It was exhibition basketball with franchise stakes: Yao’s Rockets bringing the league to a market that would grow into one of the NBA’s most important overseas audiences, and a Kings roster featuring Webber, Bibby and Stojakovic meeting that stage head-on. VOA’s same-day report captured the capacity crowd and the Yao–Liu Wei subplot that made the night feel local as well as historic.

Why the debut still echoes

October 14 is no longer a one-off calendar curiosity. The league has returned to China and nearby markets for preseason China Games ever since — including the 2026 series in Macao, where Houston and Dallas split a pair earlier this month. The through-line back to Shanghai is Yao’s night, Webber’s half-court bomb, and a two-game swing that proved the NBA could fill arenas an ocean away from Tip-Off.

Twenty-two years on, the box score is still simple: Rockets 88, Kings 86; Yao with 14; a Guinness first; Beijing next. The clip of Webber’s 55-footer keeps the anniversary vivid — a reminder that the league’s China story did not begin with a press conference, but with a packed indoor stadium and a preseason game that mattered far beyond the final score.