The Golden State Warriors privately financed the construction of Chase Center, which is a $1.6 billion gamble that will almost certainly pay off due to their revenue streams.

“Crazy money over there,” said one NBA person unaffiliated with the Warriors but familiar with their revenue flow.

The Warriors project to record $700 million in annual revenue for the foreseeable future, which is approximately $250 million to $300 million more than the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers.

The Warriors may possibly have more revenues than even any NFL team, “except maybe the Cowboys,” one source said. A 2018 estimate from Forbes indicates the Dallas Cowboys took in about $950 million in annual revenue. 

The Warriors are set to take in about $5 million in gate receipts per game. The Warriors grossed between $4 million and $5 million per early round playoff game at Oracle.

Golden State could conservatively earn close to $150 million in profit in Year 1.

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.

As the NBA regular season gets underway on Tuesday, Adam Silver believes the league's partnership with China will be repaired. 

"This has been a very difficult moment between the NBA and China," Silver said on ESPN. "My belief is ... we will get back on track. People need to step back. Everybody has made their points. There is no secret here about what's going on in China. ... Basketball diplomacy and engagement is positive. That's what we're turning back to."

Last weekend, Chinese state television warned Silver that he could face "retribution" for defending Daryl Morey and defaming China by suggesting they requested the firing of Morey.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Adam Silver "crossed the bottom line" by continuing to defend Daryl Morey.

In an interview this week, Silver claimed the NBA was asked by China to fire Morey.

“We said there’s no chance that’s happening,” said Silver. "There's no chance we'll even discipline him."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said no such demand was ever made.

NBA teams are using the start of the regular season as a gauge to see how serious the ramifications of Daryl Morey's Tweet supporting Hong Kong will be, according to sources that spoke with Shams Charania of The Athletic.

At that point, it should be clear whether China will lift their broadcast ban of NBA games.

Several teams are negotiating contract extensions with the 2016 draft class while not fully knowing whether the NBA could face a salary cap reduction due to the loss of revenue from China.

Adam Silver said the NBA is “not only willing” to cope with losses of millions in revenues from their new issues with China, “but we are. The losses have already been substantial. Our games are not back on the air in China as we speak, and we’ll see what happens next.”

The issue has seemed to go away for the most part currently and it is doubtful any additional executives or players are prepared to speak out against China with the reaction that was met by Daryl Morey's Tweet supporting Hong Kong.

“I don’t know where we go from here,” said Silver. “The financial consequences have been and may continue to be fairly dramatic.”

Silver also said that the media coverage of the NBA’s response to Morey’s tweet “frankly was confusing to me when I got home [from China]. Only because I had thought we’d taken a principled position. I thought we hadn’t so-called acquiesced to the Chinese.”

The NFL's television ratings are up this year with the spread of legalized betting to a handful of states beyond Nevada has been cited as one of the contributing factors.

"One of the things we noted early this year is gambling is picking up a bit," said MoffettNathanson media analyst Michael Nathanson. "As gambling becomes legalized, there's definitely more interest in sports and watching things live."

The NBA has strongly embraced gambling and it will be interesting to monitor whether that will help their slumping ratings.

The NBA's existing television contracts expire after the 24-25 season.

At least five teams are having their salary cap personnel prepare for a scenario in which the cap for the 20-21 season could drop between 10 and 15 percent due to the NBA's situation with China, sources tell Keith Smith of Yahoo! Sports.

"It's like the cap spike, but opposite,” a league source said. “After all the money everyone spent last summer, this would have a major impact on all of us."

The NBA recently released a projection of $116 million for the 20-21 season, which is $7 million higher than the $109 million mark for 19-20.

Teams internally plan for a variety of scenarios, but a 10 to 15 percent drop would be dramatic.

“I haven’t really been in this spot before. The cap has only gone up in recent years. It’s really different. I have to wonder if the league would be pressed to consider some measures to not drop the cap down so far from where we are today at $109 [million]. Otherwise, a bunch of us are over the tax. It’d be nice to know now, because that changes how we approach trades and everything else throughout the season.”

A number of teams could unexpectedly find themselves in the luxury tax due to the sudden drop in the cap.

Adam Silver released the following statement in response to the ongoing situation the NBA finds itself in with China:

"I recognize our initial statement left people angered, confused or unclear on who we are or what the NBA stands for. Let me be more clear," wrote Silver.

"Over the last three decades, the NBA has developed a great affinity for the people of China.  We have seen how basketball can be an important form of people-to-people exchange that deepens ties between the United States and China.

"At the same time, we recognize that our two countries have different political systems and beliefs.  And like many global brands, we bring our business to places with different political systems around the world.

"But for those who question our motivation, this is about far more than growing our business.

"Values of equality, respect and freedom of expression have long defined the NBA – and will continue to do so.  As an American-based basketball league operating globally, among our greatest contributions are these values of the game.

"In fact, one of the enduring strengths of the NBA is our diversity – of views, backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and religions.  Twenty-five percent of NBA players were born outside of the United States and our colleagues work in league offices around the world, including in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei.  

"With that diversity comes the belief that whatever our differences, we respect and value each other; and, what we have in common, including a belief in the power of sports to make a difference, remains our bedrock principle.

"It is inevitable that people around the world – including from America and China – will have different viewpoints over different issues.  It is not the role of the NBA to adjudicate those differences. 

"However, the NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues.  We simply could not operate that way.  

"Basketball runs deep in the hearts and minds of our two peoples.  At a time when divides between nations grow deeper and wider, we believe sports can be a unifying force that focuses on what we have in common as human beings rather than our differences."

As of February of 2018, NBA China was valued at more than $4 billion or $133 million in value for each of the 30 teams, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.

The NBA initially signed a five-year, $700 million deal in 2015 with Tencent to carry NBA games in China. The NBA signed an extension in Tencent in July of 2019 worth $1.5 billion over five years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Tencent’s commitment to NBA basketball in China is unparalleled,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver when announcing the Tencent extension. “The enormous reach and popularity of Tencent’s platforms have been a driving force behind the growth of basketball in China, and we look forward to deepening our connection with NBA fans across the country through this expanded partnership.”

The NBA's relationship with China is now under scrutiny following a Tweet by Daryl Morey about Hong Kong and subsequently apology from the NBA.