NBA to help China develop arenas

LONDON — The NBA has formed a joint venture with Anschutz Entertainment Group to design and develop about 12 multipurpose arenas in major Chinese cities.

The project was announced Sunday at the O2 Arena in London, where the New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat played a preseason game. AEG runs the O2, and the venture will be equally owned by the two parties.

NBA commissioner David Stern did not say when the plan would be starting, or where the buildings would be located.

"We weren't going to start construction in the next couple of weeks," Stern said at a joint news conference with AEG president and chief executive officer Timothy J. Leiweke. "We anticipate that in a relatively short order we will have laid out a road map of a dozen buildings or so throughout China."

Leiweke said it could take decades to complete the project.

— AP