You... you realize there is a CBA, correct? And like, 10 top-tier players have shoe deals with Chinese shoe companies? And it is thought to have the largest amount of basketball fans (300 million estimated) than anywhere else in the world?Big source of revenue for them until China figures out how the NBA works, steals its game plan, and then develops a league of its own. Maybe they haven't figured out how to clone genetics though.
China and Basketball have been linked at the hip since Yao exploded onto the scene. They will not take over the NBA as far as best league in the world, but they can hamstring it by not broadcasting the product to that large of a majority of its fans. Hence, the NBA being so subservient.