Posted on 10/07/2019 12:51:51 PM PDT by LRoggy
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday the league backs the free speech rights of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
But Silver, speaking to Kyodo News in Tokyo, acknowledged the impact of Morey's recent tweet, which supported anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
"There is no doubt, the economic impact is already clear," Silver said. "There have already been fairly dramatic consequences from that tweet, and I have read some of the media suggesting that we are not supporting Daryl Morey, but in fact we have.
"I think as a values-based organization that I want to make it clear ... that Daryl Morey is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression."
Silver spoke ahead of an exhibition game between the Rockets and Toronto Raptors on Tuesday in Saitama, Japan.
Morey on Friday posted a tweet with an image that read: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong." He later deleted the post and tweeted an apology. That came after Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta publicly clarified the team does not take political positions.
The strong reactions to Morey's tweet underscore China's sensitivity about foreign attitudes toward the ongoing Hong Kong protests that have grown into violence in the semi-autonomous territory. China has accused foreign parties in the United States and elsewhere of encouraging the demonstrations.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
He should have tweeted “Congratulations to President Xi and the Chinese people on the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China!”
This might have been a different story if involved a team owner instead of a GM. The GM is employed by an NBA team, isn’t covered by a collective bargaining agreement like the players are, and doesn’t really answer to the NBA leadership except perhaps in very rare cases.
and believe it or not, this issue only came about when a Republican congressman pushed for a meeting with that idiot Silver and demanded an explanation...
I don’t agree with that. The owner (Tilman Fertitta) pretty much publicly smacked his GM down but the NBA Commissioner took the high road in this when it would have been easier to put the league’s pocket book first.
There must have been a lot of contacts with the league headquarters reminding the NBA that most of their money still comes from this side of the ocean. James Harden looks particularly bad right now, looking like he traded one master for another.
Isn’t this the same NBA that cancelled the NBA allstar game in Charlotte because of their Trans gender bathroom bill?
But they are ok with heavy handed oppression and the killing of protesters by the Chinese govt? F’ing hypocrites........
If anything, his first reaction to the public announcement from Sen. Rick Scott was probably something along these lines: "What are you dragging the NBA into this for? This is an internal issue for the Houston Rockets to deal with."
That was his worst tweet.
He can say what he wants and I can watch the sports that I want. Works all the way around.
Never mix sports and politics.
That’s not always an option. You wouldn’t look the other way today if Hitler were awarded the Olympics. At that Olympics that POS Avery Brundage decided Blacks were less offensive to Hitler than Jews in the final selection of the 4x100 meter relay team.
I hope Silver doesn’t sell out Hong Kong, free speech and freedom for a “few pieces of silver” like so many other businessmen/businesses have done recently.
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