(Macau/Hong Kong)
China and the NBA have rekindled their relationship, despite China’s continued human rights abuses, including the widespread persecution of Christians. Two pre-season games will tip off at The Venetian Arena in Macau on October 10 and 12, as the NBA gears up for the start of its regular season. Paired with a special NBA Fan Day at one of the world’s largest casinos, these will be the first games played on Chinese territory since the fallout from the “Daryl Morey” tweet six years ago.
October 4th, 2019, just before 8pm, Morey (then Houston Rockets General Manager) tweeted out the following image and words:
At the time, Hong Kong was engulfed in civil rights protests that were making global headlines, primarily about judicial independence and proposed extradition rules, which would allow Beijing to extradite criminals from Hong Kong to Communist China’s “justice” system.
Morey could be forgiven for assuming that his tweet would be seen as fairly run-of-the-mill, considering all of the “social justice issues” the NBA has enthusiastically supported over the years. (Note: the 2025 NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder are the only team to declare they will not host a “pride” night this year.)
But Daryl Morey had to learn the hard way. He had clearly failed to realize one important thing: China was now calling the NBA’s shots.
Morey’s tweet went live on a Friday evening in America, which was about 9am China Standard Time (CST) on Saturday, October 5. China had just celebrated its National Day (October 1), but the week-long holiday was still in full swing. And the reaction to Morey’s post was almost instantaneous.
Sponsors began pulling out of deals, media companies refused to broadcast upcoming NBA games in China, and many online voices (were they actual Chinese fans or social media bots?) were calling for Morey to be fired immediately. It should be noted that Twitter/X is officially banned in China, and no explanation was given how these Chinese entities saw Morey’s tweet so quickly, or why they would care at all about an “irrelevant” media platform.
China’s relevant authorities and businesses played the victim perfectly and in such a way that evoked any number of LeBron’s most egregious “flops”, where he would fall on the ground (as if shot), rolling around grimacing and grabbing at his supposed injury.
So much for a quiet weekend.
To complicate matters, two NBA teams (including LeBron’s Lakers) were headed to China for a pair of preseason games in Shanghai and Shenzhen (a large Chinese city just north of Hong Kong), just days after Morey’s tweet blew up. The situation was tense and NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a closed-door meeting with both teams in China, according to reporting from ESPN.
Several prominent players voiced frustration that Morey put them in a tough spot with China. To give Silver some credit, he refused to apologize on behalf of the NBA, saying, "We are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."
Although Silver publicly stood for free speech, it is highly likely he strongly “encouraged” NBA executives and players in private to avoid commenting on Chinese politics of any kind going forward. The potential financial ramifications for not kowtowing to China were huge, calculated in the billions by some.
In short, the NBA was “free” to say whatever it wanted, except anything that offended their Communist business “partners” in China.
LeBron James, however, boldly spoke out. . . against Morey! In an ESPN article, he was quoted saying: “I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand. . . And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually.” Arguably the biggest NBA star since Michael Jordan, LeBron accused Daryl Morey of ignorance when the opposite was actually true, according to fans in Hong Kong.
Note: LeBron unwittingly gives away his real fear when he puts financial interests first in his list of things that could be harmed by the Morey tweet.
As to the “physical” and “emotional” harm James laments, maybe the teams stuck in China that week were nervous that their Chinese Communist hosts were crazy enough to do something drastic (like, oh, I don’t know, arrest people indiscriminately).
And who knows what he was referring to in referring to potential “spiritual” consequences. He probably just got carried away with his (verbal) flopping once again.
Speaking of getting carried away, James was not finished with his free speech lecture:
"I think we [all need to] sit back and learn from the situation that happened. . . Yes, we do have freedom of speech, but at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you are not thinking about others and only thinking about yourself."
And the following morning (Oct 15) on Twitter, the passive-aggressive comments continued:
"I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. . . My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.”
So to summarize all of LeBron’s comments:
Of course you can have “free speech”, but please don’t use it if it might put me in a tough spot, or threaten my income!
Poor NBA millionaires.
In your eyes, only Chinese yuan RMB ? pic.twitter.com/12eyILrVal
— BigLazyBug (@Francis36193371) July 14, 2020
However, the hypocrisy goes even deeper. In his book Fault Lines, which critiques the “social justice gospel”, Voddie Baucham pointed out LeBron’s ridiculous rhetoric on “racial inequality”. For instance, on May 7, 2020, James tweeted the following: “We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step outside the comfort of our homes!” (Fault Lines, p. 45)
Now if LeBron had tweeted those exact same words, but instead about persecuted Chinese pastors, imprisoned Hong Kong democracy activists, or the detainment of Uyghur Muslims, they would have literally been true. In China, real pastors, activists, and Uyghurs are forced from their families, prosecuted on trumped up charges, and left to rot in prison. However, James and others like him are careful not to say anything that might offend China’s “gods” (Xi Jinping’s Communist Party, China’s piles of money, or a combination of both).
LeBron remains silent on some issues while freely speaking out on others, to avoid facing China’s wrath. And it’s not like he doesn’t have the opportunity. Chinese media published an “op-ed” just a month ago from an interview James gave during a promotional visit to China. He talked about many things, including building bridges through basketball, but (obviously, or we would have heard the outcry) nothing about “justice” for those Xi Jinping’s Communist Party continues to persecute.
Way back in 2018, LeBron pushed back against Laura Ingraham’s comment that he should just focus on playing basketball (“Shut up and dribble.”), yet he openly kowtows to China’s demand that he do the exact same thing. Xi Jinping has told LeBron and the NBA (in so many words): Shut up and dribble.
And James, self-declared player-philosopher, bows respectfully to Dear Leader: ”Yes, Master.”
And this brings us full circle.
On October 10th, in the bustling coastal enclave of Macau, also known the “Las Vegas of the East”, the NBA will publicly “renew its vows” with China. Two pre-season games are set to be played on Chinese soil for the first time in six years, and they are literally scheduled on the exact same dates (October 10 and 12) as the last two games played in 2019.
A mere coincidence, or a planned “anniversary celebration”?
On September 28th I walked the halls of the massive casino where the games will be played, and even snuck into the arena for a peek at the layout. Signs advertising the NBA are everywhere, with prices clearly posted, ranging from about $60 to get in the door to $3000 for VIP tickets.
It may have taken six years, but the financial incentives were too strong to keep these lovers apart forever. China wants the NBA real bad, but the NBA lusts after China even more. In the words of one astute commentator, the NBA was easier for China “to control than the protesters in Hong Kong” in 2019. And they know they can apply the same pressure again in the future, if necessary.
It probably won’t be necessary.
The NBA has learned its lesson, and now polices its own ranks, doing the CCP’s bidding. Criticize the Commies at your own risk, for they hold the bags of cash that everyone covets.
Just smile and pretend like “Dear Leader” is honest, friendly, and good-hearted, with everyone’s best interests in mind, reality be damned.
