Too many American companies are doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Professional sports leagues are no exception.
And the NBA bowed down to communist China with one shocking move.
NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom has been a thorn in the side of the league.
He has been very outspoken about human rights abuses in China, which poses a big problem for the NBA.
The league depends heavily on the vast Chinese market to sell shoes and increase viewership.
NBA games were blocked from broadcast in China after former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for pro-freedom protesters in Hong Kong.
Morey nearly got fired, and the league issued an apology to China.
Now the NBA is back on in China, and the move curiously comes after Kanter Freedom was waived from the Houston Rockets after being traded from the Boston Celtics.
From Breitbart:
“China Central Television (CCTV) on Wednesday night aired the first National Basketball Association (NBA) game in 17 months, seemingly concluding a blackout that began soon after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey shared an image supportive of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. China’s state-run Global Times implied on Thursday that cutting Enes Kanter Freedom, an outspoken critic of China’s genocidal campaign against the Uyghur Muslims of occupied East Turkistan, helped get the NBA back into the good graces of the Communist tyranny.”
Kanter Freedom earlier revealed that people from the NBA league office pleaded with him to tone down his advocacy in exposing the CCP, but he refused to do so.
It’s no surprise that the league allegedly tried to shut him up.
Not only did he go after China directly, he also criticized LeBron James and Nike, two of the most powerful brands in all of sports.
China was also allegedly pleased when Morey, who currently serves as the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, was criticized by Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.
Lue said of 76ers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden, “Embiid is number one in the league in free throws and James Harden is number three. You take away their free throws and neither guy would be top 10 in scoring…So it just tells you how much they’re getting to the free-throw line.”
Morey heard the comment and responded, “[The] Clippers offense would rank 30th without free throws…Say it with me again — players are fouled because the other team cannot stop them …”
That set off Lue who responded, “Should he really be tweeting anything right now? … Last time he tweeted, he cost the NBA a billion dollars. So I don’t think he should be doing too much tweeting. Just worry about his own team.”
The CCP fully endorses Lue chastising Morey for speaking out against China.
So much of the league’s financial health is tied to the Chinese market, and they don’t want to do anything to rock the boat, not even call out forced labor camps.