Chinese state television did not air the NBA's opening night games, while Tencent reduced its schedule to just the Los Angeles Lakers-Los Angeles Clippers game.
CCTV has customarily shown the NBA's opening night games.
Tencent is a media partner of ESPN and the NBA. The NBA declined comment.
Over the summer, the NBA agreed to a five-year extension to the streaming rights deal with Tencent reportedly worth $1.5 billion.