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Griffin Excited For Clippers’ Preseason Trip To China

Rowan Kavner

NEW YORK – The Clippers will participate in the NBA Global Games China 2015 in October, playing in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

It will mark the NBA’s first ever game in Shenzhen, as the Clippers will take on the Hornets on Oct. 11 at the Shenzhen Universiade Center. The Clippers will then travel to Shanghai to play Oct. 14 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

“It’s always cool to go over there,” said Blake Griffin. “This will be like my fourth time now, going with the Jordan group and stuff. I’ll probably go this summer again too. I’ve gotten to know kind of the culture. It’s cool every time you go you see something different, you see something cool.”

Griffin believes the China trip will be good for basketball to be able to spread the game to people who don’t typically get to see NBA players in live action. The NBA is China’s most popular sports league and basketball is the nation’s top team sport, with 300 million people playing the game.

“There’s more people playing basketball there than there are here,” Griffin said. “It’s cool just to be able to see that frenzy and see how excited people are about basketball.”

Head coach Doc Rivers said he knew last year the Clippers would be heading overseas at some point for this upcoming preseason, but not until more recently that it would be to China. Rivers remembers going overseas to Rome to participate in camp and play exhibition games prior to winning a championship with the Celtics, and he said those trips can be great team-building exercises.

It wasn’t long ago the Clippers traveled to China to take part in the Global Games in 2012 against the Heat. The Clippers have also played international preseason games in Mexico City in 2010 and Russia in 2006.

“Returning to China to participate in the NBA Global Games China is another important step in establishing the Clippers as a first-class international franchise,” said Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. “We are looking forward to representing Los Angeles and the NBA as we bring our exciting brand of basketball to all of our fans in China.”

The games are part of the NBA Global Games 2015, with additional games to be announced at a later date. NBA Global Games China 2015 will feature a variety of off-court activities including NBA Cares community programs. The games are supported by promoters AEG Live Asia and iRENA Group, as well as several marketing and merchandising partners, and will be available worldwide on television, digital and social media.

The NBA in 2004 became the first American professional sports league to compete in China, with two exhibition games between the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing. Following NBA Global Games China 2015, the NBA will have played 20 games in Greater China since 2004.