China does not understand free speech -

[RevolverRob]

In other news the sky is blue.

I know many of you do not follow sportsball. I do and of all the various sportsball competitions, NBA Basketball is one of my favorites.

Last week Darryl Morey, the General Manager of Basketball Operations, for the Houston Rockets, made a tweet, of his own opinion:

"Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong."

"He later deleted the post and tweeted an apology after Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta publicly clarified the team does not take political positions."

Unfortunately, since then this has BLOWN up. For those of you don't know, NBA Basketball is HUGE in China. China is the second largest basketball market in the world and many NBA players have fanbases in China that are bigger than the ones they have here in the US. And unfortunately for the NBA, those players, and those fans - China has decided that such a statement must be met with persecution of the NBA.

Adam Silver, Director of the NBA, said after the tweet and controversy - that while Morey's tweet did not represent the NBA, he was free as an individual to have and share any opinion he wished. And that the NBA would not interfere with Morey's freedom of speech.

Okay, we're all caught up, until this morning. When the state run Chinese television broadcaster CCTV (what irony to call it CCTV...) canceled the broadcasts of two NBA pre-season games being played in China over the next few days. The statement from the state run broadcaster was:

"We're strongly dissatisfied and oppose Adam Silver's claim to support Morey's right to freedom of expression," the statement read. "We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."

Hate to tell you this guys...but remarks that challenge national sovereignty or social stability are totally covered under free speech, unless they directly incite insurrection or violence (which is a post-hoc assessment). "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong." is definitely protected speech in the FREE WORLD, dudes. That's how it works. But maybe this wouldn't be an issue, if the Chinese weren't actively trying to imprison or murder political dissidents...

More below:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ame-broadcasts

[Guerrero]

"China does not understand free speech"

Duh. But it does understand throwing around its weight.

[RevolverRob]

But it does understand throwing around its weight.

Absolutely. I think the NBA Commissioner (Adam Silver) is doing a bang-up job both absorbing the blows and responding correctly. Morey has a right to express himself and even though the NBA is a private entity, they're recognizing the distinction between representing the company and representing himself. They are certainly are not going to move to censure or fire him doing so would be disastrous for their main base, fans in the USA. Silver has said that he the league is prepared to "absorb the consequences" for respecting the rights of its employees.

It would be unfortunate if China ultimately obstructs the NBA's relationship and business dealings in China. But it's not the end of the world for the NBA. They can simply expend their money and efforts growing basketball presence in other places and take their ball (figuratively and literally...) and go home.

This is a 100-billion dollar collective that China is trying to bully, it won't bend over readily. Each of the 30-franchises is worth at least 1 billion dollars, each generations 8-9 digits of income annually for their respective owners and investors and they all share on the profits from a 25-billion dollar US TV deal. China offers potential, but peanuts by comparison to their biggest market.

[shane45]

I wish other sports handled the topic half as well!

[Duke]

I don’t give 2 shits about nba or China or any of that


I do wonder why so many adults feel the need to “tweet” every silly ass thing they may be thinking.

I don’t have Twatter, so maybe I just don’t get it.

[Old Man Winter]

I don’t give 2 shits about nba or China or any of that


I do wonder why so many adults feel the need to “tweet” every silly ass thing they may be thinking.

I don’t have Twatter, so maybe I just don’t get it.

Wish I could smash the like button repeatedly for your post!

[Suvorov]

Ironic - the NBA is in full hysterics that a team GM criticize China yet the NBA is more than happy to support teams and owners calling for the end of the Second Amendment. And don't even get me started on the dung show that is the NFL....

[Drang]

China is hostile to the very concept of free speech

FIFY.

I would like to think that those in the West who have been sucking up to the ChiComs are realizing that they have been playyed for fools -- "Useful Idiots", in Vlad L's phrase -- but I am not sanguine.

ETA: #FuckTheNBA

ETA², just so there's no doubt: #FuckCommunism #FuckCommunists #FuckCommunistChina

[blues]

[fly out]

I don't tweet and I don't read Chinese, but from what I can tell, the NBA did not act honorably in this matter.

Here is one example of the discussion of the NBA's response in English versus Chinese. https://twitter.com/yiqinfu/status/1...114180/photo/1

The response in Chinese might translate like this:

“We feel greatly disappointed at Houston Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey’s inappropriate speech, which is regrettable. Without a doubt, he has deeply offended many Chinese basketball fans. Morey has clarified that his stance on this issue does not represent either Houston Rockets or the NBA. From NBA’s perspective, people can be interested in different subjects and freely share their opinions. We take respecting Chinese history and culture as a serious matter. We also hope that sports and the NBA, as a unified source of positive energy, can continue to build bridges between countries and bring people together."

The creators of South Park, on the other hand:

"Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy. Xi doesn’t look just like Winnie the Pooh at all. Tune into our 300th episode this Wednesday at 10! Long live the Great Communist Party of China! May this autumn’s sorghum harvest be bountiful! We good now China?"