One thing the NBA has done very well over the past couple of decades is increasing its popularity overseas.
China has become a massive NBA market and the popularity of some players there is unbelievable. The Los Angeles Lakers have witnessed this previously with Kobe Bryant‘s unreal stardom there and now the same is the case for LeBron James.
Much like Bryant and Michael Jordan before him, James is an absolutely massive star overseas, garnering huge crowds whenever he takes trips outside of the country. Of course, the Lakers took a trip to China during the 2019 NBA preseason and Jared Dudley was witness to the James phenomenon in real-time.