NBA commissioner Adam Silver: ‘We will protect our employees’ freedom of speech’
- As controversy over Houston Rockets GM’s Hong Kong protest tweet grows, he says league will not compromise on its values
- NBA boss stands firm as the league comes under fire from all directions
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stood firm in defending what he called the league’s values and the personal freedom of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to support protesters in Hong Kong, despite facing vehement attacks from Chinese fans and partners.
“The long-held values of the NBA are to support freedom of expression, and Daryl Morey enjoyed that right as one of our employees,” said an emotional Silver as he met the media before the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets exhibition match in Tokyo on Tuesday evening.
“I also understand that there are consequences from that exercise of his freedom of speech. We will have to live with those consequences. It’s my hope that our Chinese fans and our partners in China will see those remarks in the context of a three-decade relationship,” he said.
When asked if the 60 National Basketball Association staff members at its regional headquarters in Hong Kong would also have those rights protected amid pressure from the mainland government to mute corporate entities, Silver pointedly replied: “We will protect our employees’ freedom of speech.”
It was an almost unprecedented show of defiance for a multinational doing extensive business in China, where the NBA has more than 180 million social media followers and a multibillion-dollar broadcasting contract.
All of that could be in jeopardy now, with state broadcaster CCTV announcing on Tuesday that it would not broadcast the NBA’s preseason games in China and that it was reviewing its relationship with the league.
In addition, a number of Chinese business partners said they had taken Rockets merchandise off their shelves and about a dozen mainland celebrities – including actor Wu Jinyan and singer Fan Chengcheng – said they would boycott NBA events in China this week, including games between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets.
The Lakers and Nets are scheduled to play in the NBA China Games 2019 on Thursday in Shanghai, followed by a rematch in Shenzhen on Saturday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also weighed in on the controversy at a press briefing in Beijing, when asked about CCTV pulling the plug on the preseason games. “It will not work if you have exchanges and cooperation with China but fail to understand the opinions of the Chinese people,” Geng said.
In an attempt to calm the storm, the NBA posted on its Weibo account, China’s equivalent of Twitter, on Monday that it was “deeply disappointed by the inappropriate remarks”.
Early on Tuesday, Silver released a statement saying the NBA would not desert its core value of freedom of speech.
“Part of my reason for releasing that statement is because this afternoon CCTV announced that because of my remarks supporting Daryl Morey’s freedom of expression, not the substance of his statement but his freedom of expression, they were no longer going to air the Lakers and Nets game in Shanghai,” Silver said.
“Again, it’s not something we expected to happen, it is unfortunate but these are the consequences of adhering to our values.”
Many Chinese continued to express their anger on social media on Tuesday. In a post on Weibo that was liked more than 50,000 times, one person suggested, “Let’s say goodbye” to Morey.
Another said: “The NBA acted fast when former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was found to have made racist remarks. But they choose to be ‘diplomatic’ when it comes to the territorial integrity of other countries. That’s so-called freedom of speech.”
Another post suggested the NBA should go and “make money elsewhere, like India”.
Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke called the league’s apology “an embarrassment” and tweeted that “the only thing the NBA should be apologising for is their blatant prioritisation of profits over human rights”.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also weighed in, tweeting: “This is bigger than just the NBA. It’s about China’s growing ability to restrict freedom of expression here in the US.”
Additional reporting by Zhuang Pinghui
