The NBA is controlled by hypocrites.
Players and management are celebrated for trashing America, but attacked for criticizing China.
And one NBA executive who called out China received a ridiculous punishment.
The NBA has gone full “woke” over the past few years.
Players and coaches who engage in anti-American anthem protests are elevated as heroes.
But people who criticize the Chinese Communist Party run the risk of getting run out of the league.
That’s what almost happened to Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey when he was with the Houston Rockets.
Morey tweeted, “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
That simple tweet unleashed a torrent of backlash.
Morey was almost fired by Houston; the Rockets have a huge presence in China because they were the team that drafted Yao Ming.
Morey eventually parted ways with the Rockets and went to the 76ers.
And a recent report shows that Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai banned Morey from attending games in the Barclays Center.
From ESPN:
“[A]fter Morey saved his job with help from powerful supporters who championed his right to free speech, the Nets quietly refunded Morey’s purchase of a suite for a Rockets game at Barclays Center. Morey believed Tsai had disinvited him, according to a person who was scheduled to attend. A source close to the Nets said Tsai was unaware of the decision, which was related to concerns about possible protests.”
Tsai, a Taiwanese-born tech billionaire, made his fortune in Mainland China with the behemoth company Alibaba.
Tsai is deeply tied to the CCP.
ESPN continued:
“Within two months of taking control of the Nets, Tsai inserted himself into the controversy. Morey’s supporters believed Tsai was pushing the NBA to fire Morey and offer a full-throated apology, part of a behind-the-scenes drama that reached the White House and has not been previously disclosed. Tsai also published an open letter that accused Morey, inaccurately, of ‘supporting a separatist movement.’ Both the Nets and the NBA denied that Tsai tried to get Morey fired or that he pushed the NBA to apologize.”
Morey’s benign tweet exposed just how dependent the NBA is on the Chinese market.
The same players who were kneeling for the anthem were suddenly slamming Morey for supporting pro-freedom protesters in Hong Kong.
The island has since fallen under the control of the CCP security apparatus.
The league even downplayed abuse that occurred at a basketball camp in China.
The NBA and Hollywood are both beholden to the Chinese market, so they bow down to the censorship requests of the CCP.
Center Enes Kanter Freedom has essentially been run out of the league for calling out the horrific treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang Province.
Former Trump Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger summed it up when he said, “Joe Tsai is emblematic of U.S. sports and business figures who are critical of American imperfections, as we all should be, but who make excuses for human rights atrocities committed in China, where he makes money…We’re going to self-censor or even compliment the policies of a totalitarian dictatorship that’s committing crimes against humanity?”
The hypocrisy has become too big to ignore.