NBA’s Clippers to host Chinese team in Frontwave Arena exhibition

For the second straight season, the Los Angeles Clippers will play at Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena as they gear up for the start of the NBA season.

The Clippers will open their 2025-26 schedule with an exhibition game against the Guangzhou Loong Lions on Oct. 9. Their opening preseason opponent, known as the Long-Lions, play in the Chinese Basketball Association, where they finished 12-34 last season to tie for 15th place in the 20-team league.

Frontwave is home of the San Diego Clippers, the Los Angeles second-year minor-league affiliate. The first-ever basketball game played at the new arena was a Clippers-Brooklyn Nets preseason game that took place last fall. Los Angeles won 115-106 in front of a sold-out crowd.

This year’s Oceanside game will take place five days after the NBA’s Denver Nuggets take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at Pechanga Arena, ending a decade-long stretch without preseason basketball in the city of San Diego. The Nuggets are frequent visitors to the city, having trained at UC San Diego several times in the past and as recently as 2023. The club’s owner, Stan Kroenke, is the majority investor in the Midway Rising project that hopes to bring a new arena to the existing Pechanga site.

The Clippers’ full schedule, along with those of the other 29 teams, will be released Thursday.

The Union-Tribune’s Ryan Finley contributed to this story.