NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league has not apologized for a later deleted tweet by the Houston Rockets general manager expressing support for anti-government protests in Hong Kong, even after state television China will cancel the broadcast of a couple of preseason games in that country this week.
At a press conference in Tokyo ahead of a preseason game between the Rockets and reigning champions Toronto Raptors, Silver said he and the league are “sorry” that so many Chinese government officials and fans have been angered by the tweet. by Daryl Morey and subsequent comments – but insisted that the Houston executive has the full right to free speech.
“Daryl Morey, as general manager of the Houston Rockets, enjoys his right as one of our employees,” Silver said. “What I am also trying to indicate is that I understand that there are consequences for their freedom of expression and we will have to live with the consequences.”
Among those consequences: CCTV reported that it will not broadcast the games between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, who will play in Shanghai on Thursday and Shenzhen on Saturday. Basketball is very popular in China and those two teams – largely because of LeBron James’ presence with the Lakers and that Joe Tsai, the owner of the e-commerce platform Alibaba, as the owner of the Nets – was going to have a great time. teleaudience.
“We are very dissatisfied and differ from Adam Silver’s argument in support of Morey’s right to freedom of expression,” CCTV said in a statement. “We believe that any comment that challenges national sovereignty and social stability does not fit under freedom of expression.”
CCTV also said it will rethink all its cooperation and other work involving the NBA, according to a statement posted by CCTV’s sports branch on social media.
The NBA is not the first corporation to face criticism from China over political differences. Mercedes-Benz, Delta airline, Marriott hotel chain, Zara clothing chain and others have been embroiled in conflicts with China in recent years.
Silver will travel to Shanghai on Wednesday and said he hopes to meet with officials and league partners in the country to reach some kind of common understanding. He added that he hopes the Chinese can appreciate the global impact of a link of more than three decades between the league and their country, urging them to receive his response and recognizing that there are political differences between the countries.
“I value our interests here and that our partners are upset,” Silver said. “Do not think that it is inconsistent on the one hand to have understanding with them and at the same time be faithful to our principals.”
Silver said the NBA was not expecting CCTV to cancel the broadcast of the Lakers-Nets games. “But if those are the consequences of adhering to our values, considered that it is very important to adhere to our values,” said Silver.
The commotion broke out over the weekend when Morey issued the tweet, later deleted, in which an image appeared, along with a text that read: “Fight for freedom. We are with Hong Kong ”. He was referring to the four months of protests in the semi-autonomous territory of China, where violence between protesters and police forces has escalated.
They immediately tried to defuse the situation. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said Morey is not the voice of the Rockets and Morey reappeared on Twitter Monday in an attempt to clarify the meaning.
But the damage was done: at least one Chinese sportswear company announced that it would no longer collaborate with the Rockets; Tencent, the streaming partner of the NBA and with a contract of 1.500 million dollars with the league for the next season, said that it will not show the games of the China; and a Chinese sports portal announced that it would stop covering the team. AFP