NBA China to host fan-tastic freebie

NBA China will host Fan Appreciation Day on Oct 10 at Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena to launch the China Global Games and thank fans for their support.

The free event will give 14,000 supporters the opportunity to watch the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings participate in drills and interactive games.

Throughout the day, sponsorship partners adidas and ZTE Mobile will host other interactive events and fans will also witness history when a lineup of past and present NBA stars takes the final five shots in the "Shoot Two Million Hoops" campaign, which tipped off on May 31 in hundreds of schools and communities across Shanghai.

The campaign is a joint initiative between the NBA and the Shanghai Sports Bureau to promote active and healthy lifestyles through participation in sports.

Former NBA stars Darryl Dawkins, Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac will be on hand to interact with fans, while the NBA Fan Patrol, the Nets and Kings dance teams and Kings mascot Slamson will provide entertainment.

Free tickets are available through a series of interactive promotions from NBA digital and marketing partners. Fans can follow the league's official WeChat account to win tickets and students at 11 Shanghai-based colleges have the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win admission.

The Shanghai Sports Bureau will also select thousands of fans to take part.

The Kings and the Nets will square off at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Oct 12 at 12:30 pm and at the MasterCard Center in Beijing on Oct 15 at 7 pm.

The Nets roster includes NBA champion and 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, 7-time All-Star Joe Johnson and 3-time All-Star Deron Williams. This will be the Nets second trip to China; the then New Jersey Nets played in Beijing and Guangzhou in 2010.

The Kings feature a talented young roster led by DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore.

This marks the second time Sacramento is playing preseason games in China. The Kings played in Beijing and Shanghai in the inaugural China Games in 2004.

The NBA became the first US professional sports league to play in China when Sacramento and the Houston Rockets squared off in Shanghai and Beijing in 2004.

This year's NBA Global Games lineup includes five international preseason games followed by two regular season games in November and January.

Overall, nine NBA teams will play seven games in six countries as the league continues to expand globally.