(Yicai Global) Oct. 8 -- Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group Holding and an investor in the Brooklyn Nets,hastaken a seat on the board of NBA China, Adam Silver, commissioner of the US National Basketball Association, said last week.

Silver announced this at a pre-match press conference for the NBA China Games 2018 betweentheDallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 5, the day of their first pre-season tip-off in Shanghai, with a rematch today in Shenzhen. The US NBA formed Beijing-based NBA China in 2008 -- to coincide with the city's hosting of the Olympics -- to ply the league's business in the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Hoops is the country's top team sport with 300 million estimated players, per the Chinese Basketball Association, ABS-CBN Sports reported Oct. 4.

Tsaiis the co-founder of Hangzhou-based Alibaba. He acquireda49 percent of theBrooklyn Nets' shares from the team's owner Mikhail Prokhorovforabout USD1.15 billion in Aprilbut isnot involved in its management. Prokhorov still holds a controlling stake, but Tsai has an option tobuymore in 2021 to become majorityshareholder,theNew York Post reported at the time. Tsai is well-versed in boththeinternet and e-commerce sectors, and this will helpthe New York-basedNBA's local unit better develop in China,Silver told Yicai Global atthebriefing.

Five partners will buy 11 percent of the firm's preferred shares forUSD253 million. All are hard-hitters: the ESPN division of The Walt Disney Company, Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings -- owner of Chinese personal computer colossus Lenovo Group -- the Li Ka Shing Foundation and China Merchants Investments.

Editor: Ben Armour