The impact of the pandemic had a consequence for the NBA hiatus for a few years from games on international soil between its teamsa typical custom that has helped so much in expanding the league’s brand.
A tradition that will happily return December 2022 with the duel between San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat in the Mexico City.
In total, 76 preseason games have been played and 33 regular season beyond the United States and Canada.
The first meeting international game played between NBA teams was in 1984 when the Phoenix Suns and New Jersey Nets traveled to Milan (Italy) in a key market for the league. Six years later, in 1990, their first regular season game took place outside North America when the Suns and the Utah Jazz competed in Tokyo (Japan).
Since then, the NBA has consistently played preseason and regular season games in nearly every corner of the globe. Therefore, it’s time to take a look at all the countries that have hosted NBA games.
All NBA regular season international games
33 NBA regular season games have been played on international soil. The first duel took place between Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz on November 2, 1990 in Tokyo, Japan.
The most recent NBA regular season game played internationally was between Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets on January 24, 2020 in Paris, France.
Here is the full list:
| Country | total matches | First match | Last match | cities |
| Japan | 12 | November 2, 1990 | November 1, 2003 | Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama |
| Mexico | eleven | December 7, 1997 | December 14, 2019 | Mexico City |
| Britain | 9 | March 4, 2011 | January 17, 2019 | London |
| France | 1 | January 24, 2020 | January 24, 2020 | Paris |
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
