NBA Global Games 2014-15 tips off Oct 8

Brooklyn Nets To Take On the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing on Oct 12 and 15

The National Basketball Association (NBA) will tip off NBA Global Games 2014-15on Oct. 8 with five international preseason games, followed by two regular-season games in November and January. Overall, nine NBA teams will play seven games in seven cities in six countries as the league continues to expand globally.

The games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings will air live on CCTV5, BesTV, Sina and Tencent in mainland China and NowTV in Hong Kong.Additionally, the preseason Global Games in Europe and China will air live on NBA TV, with the preseason Global Game in Rio de Janeiro airing live on ESPNEWS.All Global Games will reach fans in 215 countries and territories and are available on International NBA LEAGUE PASS.

Preseason NBA Global Games will be supported across all markets by world-class marketing partners, including presenting partners Sportlobster (Berlin), Garanti Bank (Istanbul), Oi (Rio) and ZTE Mobile (Shanghai and Beijing), and by 54 television, radio and digital partners. Along with ZTE as presenting partner of the NBA Global Games China additional partners for the games include adidas, Clear, Harbin Beer, Mengniu, SAP, Sprite, ContinentalTires, Delta Air Lines, Greenland and Soar Culture.

Forty-four international NBA players will participate in NBA Global Games 2014-15.

The defending champion San Antonio Spurs, who won the championship last season with a record nine international players, will tip off NBA Global Games against eight-time German champions Alba Berlin and six-time Turkish champions Fenerbah eülker Istanbul.

The game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat will markthe NBA's second game in South Americaand LeBron James' first matchup against his former team, the Miami Heat.It will also be the first time Cavaliers forward Anderson Varej oplays an NBA game in his native Brazil. There will be a record seven Brazilian players on NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season.

The league's two foreign-born owners, VivekRanadivé of the Sacramento Kings and Mikhail Prokhorov of the Brooklyn Nets, will have their teams square off twicefor the first time outside North America in China. The two games will feature three 2014 FIBA World Cup gold medalists from the USA Basketball Men's National Team: Mason Plumlee of the Nets, and DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay of the Kings.

NBA Global Games 2014-15 will conclude with two regular-season games whenthe Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves play in Mexico and the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks travel to the United Kingdom.The two games will feature 10 participants from the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

The NBA, which has built one of the largest social media communities in the world with nearly 700 million likes and followers across all platforms, will engage fans on a global basis in real time with unprecedented behind-the-scenes access.