Warriors, Wizards to Play 2 Games in Japan During 2022 NBA Preseason

The NBA announced on Monday that it will hold a series of preseason games ahead of the 2022-23 season in Saitama City, Japan.

The Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards will face each other on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 at Saitama Super Arena.

According to the league's release, it will be the first trip to Japan for both the Warriors and Wizards, as well as the 15th and 16th games ever played in the country. The NBA had held 12 regular-season games in Japan between 1990 and 2003.

Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal expressed his excitement after the news broke:

The Warriors have been a popular choice for overseas games over the years. Golden State has played eight games outside of North America in five different countries. The team last played overseas in Oct. 2017 in China for two preseason games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, who will be entering his fourth year next season, was the first Japanese player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in 2019.

According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Washington was the first NBA franchise ever to play exhibition games outside of North America. When they were known as the Washington Bullets, they took on Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1978. The team also had two exhibition games in China and one in the Philippines the next year.