The channel has boycotted the NBA for a year following a tweet from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.

Morey swiftly deleted the tweet following a rebuke from Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.

The Chinese Basketball Association, CCTV, other broadcasters and sponsors halted their involvement with the Rockets in response and the NBA had said Morey’s post had "deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable".

In February, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested the league had lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to China’s reaction to the tweet, but estimated the cost was less than $400 million (£306 million/€369 million).

The Los Angeles Lakers hold a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, meaning tonight's game could be the last of the season - they will be crowned champions should they win.

Lakers star LeBron James, a two-time Olympic champion with the United States and a vocal advocate for social justice in his home country, was among those to have criticised Morey for his tweet.

Houston were among the most popular NBA teams in China as the country's most famous player, Yao Ming, played for the Rockets between 2002 and 2011.

China is viewed as one of the NBA's most important international markets, but relations between the US and China have deteriorated in recent years and worsened even since Morey's tweet. 

US President Donald Trump has blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic and tensions have also arisen over trade, cybersecurity Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

All of this comes as China prepares to host the next Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Beijing is set to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics in 2022, but some in the US are calling for China to be stripped of this right and the diplomatic row between the two superpowers threatens to dominate the build-up to the Games.