HONG KONG — The N.B.A. superstar LeBron James has routinely insulted President Trump. Two of the league’s most successful coaches, Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich, have repeatedly slammed American lawmakers for inaction on gun legislation. And other basketball stars regularly speak out on social and political issues — police shootings, elections and racism — without fear of retribution from the league.
But this weekend, a Houston Rockets executive unwittingly exposed an issue that may have been too much for the National Basketball Association: a comment on social media in support of protesters in Hong Kong that infuriated China.
“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets general manager, said in a post to Twitter that included an image of protests. It was quickly deleted.
But the damage was done, and the N.B.A. quickly moved to smooth things over in a lucrative market which generates millions of dollars in revenue. The league said that it was “regrettable” that many Chinese fans were offended by the comment.
justalemontree on October 7th, 2019 at 14:07 UTC »
As a Hong Konger, I'm just happy to see that people in other countries are aware of our situation.
504Hardhead on October 7th, 2019 at 13:32 UTC »
This is a PR nightmare for the NBA, but they know it'll blow over In The US.
Some-Other-Commenter on October 7th, 2019 at 13:28 UTC »
Who writes NBA as N.B.A.?