NBA London Regular Season Games Cancelled

The planned NBA regular season games to be staged in London ahead of next summer’s Olympics have been cancelled the National Basketball Association (NBA) has confirmed.

The New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic were due to play regular-season games at the O2 Arena as part of an effort to promote basketball in the lead up to the Olympics.

The cancellation has followed the curtailment of the new season due to the long labour dispute fought out between players and owners.

With a new reduced 66-game regular season schedule, squeezed into a shorter period with an increased number of back-to-back-to-back games for all teams, it had increased pressure on the league and the Nets to scrap their dates at The 02 Arena, slated for March 7 and 8.

The league is still scheduled to play at least one pre-season game in London next autumn with another to follow in Manchester in 2013.