SHENZHEN – The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets will play Saturday’s final exhibition game in China on Saturday, but the NBA will not make players or coaches available to the media amid tensions over protests in Hong Kong.
The teams played Thursday in Shanghai with the same stipulation, as requested by the Chinese government.
In a statement released Friday, the league said it made the decision to extend the policy for the sake of the teams.
“We have decided not to hold media availability for our teams for the remainder of our trip in China,” the statement reads. “They have been placed into a complicated and unprecedented situation while abroad and we believe it would be unfair to ask them to address these matters in real time.”
Saturday’s game will be played in Shenzhen, less than 30 kilometers from Hong Kong.
