The NBA/China Controversy

[angrylawyeryyz]

There appears to be some redbook mao supporters here. Not unsurprisingly given all the immigrants who love Canada for its freedoms but yet wear red scarfs and carry red books here.

[MadDogSHWA]

There appears to be some redbook mao supporters here. Not unsurprisingly given all the immigrants who love Canada for its freedoms but yet wear red scarfs and carry red books here.

That and a bunch of cry babies that have never experienced Social Injustice and aren't empathetic enough to understand when it's happening to other people.

[OAKLEY_2]

There appears to be some redbook mao supporters here. Not unsurprisingly given all the immigrants who love Canada for its freedoms but yet wear red scarfs and carry red books here.

The smart thing to do is hold China's feet to the fire and to a slightly lesser extent America too. They have different systems and yet they are both bellicose bullies. Capitalism and Communism have nothing to do with it. One nation sprang up from power growing from the barrel of a gun the second nation? The same damn thing. Both are marshal doctrine societies with witch hunt tendencies. The last thing we need to do on here is give little lectures about superior "belief systems". Unless belief systems is our primary field of study.

[SHFT]

If MLSE ends up letting the Group do this, it means they publicly politicized the Raptors, and now they will be involved in this mess.

How can they stop this? I don't think people grasp the logistics.

Bonus question: How can MLSE stop this without incurring negative PR?

If they actually stop it then that means they are taking a PRO-China stance. That's not a win and they know it. Then you have the fallout. They kick out thousands of fans. How many of them are filing a lawsuit? How many fans see people being kicked out for this nonsense and just walk out in a show of support.

I can say as a fan that I would never attend a Raptors game again if they start checking people's t-shirts. Or if they kick out 7 thousand fans.

Also: there is zero logic to support the middle clause in this quote. The fans have politicized something. MLSE did nothing but let them in the arena. To put that on MLSE fails any form of logical analysis.

Why is this so black and white to you? Choosing not to let this happen doesn’t mean the are pro-China, it means that they are the Toronto Raptors and their opponent is the New Orleans Pelicans, not the communist Chinese government.

There is no winning for the team in this situation which they are being forced into and that is the problem.

What happens in the building is a reflection of the team, organization and city, and one obnoxious, drunk sports fan starting a “**** China” chant is all it takes to start major issues.

Sports bring people together and this will only divide, so please people, voice your opinions literally anywhere else and I’m in full in support.

Except then they wouldnt allow anyone wearing any t shirt that isnt Raptor (or Pelican) affiliated. Choosing to do it one time (hypothetically) is going to make it seem like they are Pro china whether that was their intention or not . If I wore a shirt with Kap kneeling, they arent kicking me out for it so why would they do it here?

That is why it is pretty black and white for the organization. Fans will do it, Raptors will confirm they had no part in it but they support free speach. End of their involvement. Even the organizers of this t shirt handout outright said that Raptors have no part in this.

[mdenny]

What are your thoughts on his? This is a pretty massive story as LeBron and the Lakers will be in China this week.

Read on Twitter

If anyone is capable of making gifs or know someone who is....I have an idea that I think could go viral:

Super-impose the teenager from the Tianemen Square protests (the one who stood in front of the tanks) onto a halfcourt basketball clip. Have Lebron dunk overtop of him....knocking him over and Lebron flexing, celebrating, stepping over him, and/or doing that chalk routine while money falls from the sky.

[Dr Positivity]

Lebron with the GOAT swings between face and heel

[ChimRichalds]

There appears to be some redbook mao supporters here. Not unsurprisingly given all the immigrants who love Canada for its freedoms but yet wear red scarfs and carry red books here.

That and a bunch of cry babies that have never experienced Social Injustice and aren't empathetic enough to understand when it's happening to other people.

You have tried so many times to be politically divisive in this thread, which is especially asinine because this is the most non-partisan political issue I've seen in years.

[seanbig]

I used to be totally against China commie until I had an ex who grew up in Prc. In Guangzhou but nevertheless China and not Hk. China is like Iran or Saudi Arabia

It’s not democracy but it works. Look at Russia and how “democracy” has worked there. If China was smart they would just keep Hk a special state forever

[whoknows]

I used to be totally against China commie until I had an ex who grew up in Prc. In Guangzhou but nevertheless China and not Hk. China is like Iran or Saudi Arabia

It’s not democracy but it works. Look at Russia and how “democracy” has worked there. If China was smart they would just keep Hk a special state forever

The whole issue is that China agreed to leave HK under own laws after the transfer from UK to China in 1997.

In 1839, Britain invaded China to crush opposition to its interference in the country’s economic, social, and political affairs. One of Britain’s first acts of the war was to occupy Hong Kong, a sparsely inhabited island off the coast of southeast China. In 1841, China ceded the island to the British with the signing of the Convention of Chuenpi, and in 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed, formally ending the First Opium War.

Britain’s new colony flourished as an East-West trading center and as the commercial gateway and distribution center for southern China. In 1898, Britain was granted an additional 99 years of rule over Hong Kong under the Second Convention of Peking. In September 1984, after years of negotiations, the British and the Chinese signed a formal agreement approving the 1997 turnover of the island in exchange for a Chinese pledge to preserve Hong Kong’s capitalist system.

Communists cannot help themselves when it comes to power since there is no opposition to stop them (they kill opposition in the bud). Sadly next will be Taiwan, but at least Taiwan has an army to defend themselves.

[JYD]

I can't imagine how callous a person would need to be to have any issue with a protest to help people who are suffering.

I have to assume the same people didn't support Colin Kaepernick, and also just want athletes to shut up and dribble or whatever. I mean if you want politics out of sports, you can't pick and choose. Same goes for black lives matter stuff. Keep politics out of sports, right? This is according to their definition of politics, not mine keep in mind.

Only in those cases, I don't really remember anyone here arguing against it.

Raptors would get horrendous blowback if they tried to censor non-offensive articles of clothing. And the concept that letting people use their voice will make the org. look bad is a complete joke.

[JYD]

A Pro HK group is planning to give away a bunch of pro HK shirts at the Raptors home opener. Their intention is to have a chunk of the crowd wear them during the game. If MLSE ends up letting the Group do this, it means they publicly politicized the Raptors, and now they will be involved in this mess.

Um, no, because the Raptors aren't organizing anything. What do you mean if they let the group do this? There's nothing in their policy preventing it, and to change that now would be a disastrous look for any NBA team.

If a bunch of people wore BLM shirts to NBA games, which I'm sure they have, and a team shut them down, what do you think the reaction would be? I think we all know the answer.

[JYD]

There appears to be some redbook mao supporters here. Not unsurprisingly given all the immigrants who love Canada for its freedoms but yet wear red scarfs and carry red books here.

That and a bunch of cry babies that have never experienced Social Injustice and aren't empathetic enough to understand when it's happening to other people.

I mean, it's just not normal to try and tell other people what to do and think in Canada. Whether it's a result of complete ignorance and isolation from these kinds of issues in their lives (along with everything ruining their private fantasy experience?), or they're Wu Mao-ish, the suggestion to try and influence individual expression is ridiculous, and comes off to me as extremely weird/strange that some are so against it. Again, especially in the context of absence of a similar voice at times when there have been other 'political' issues in sports.

But again, to me the claim that this is political, or inferring something like BLM is political is a red herring, and being repeated to the point by some where I believe you can see a badly hidden agenda. These are social issues, issues of morality, not politics. Things like protesting doing business with countries that have massive concentration camps is a moral issue to me. But if people want to continue to go down the road of arguing that speaking out on internment/concentration camps (and it's not hyperbole) either kills your buzz or is somehow inappropriate, I'll get a shovel.

If you don't want to support it, nobody is making you. You don't have to wear a shirt, or boo, or chant, or whatever. And then when you make your choice and also respect the choice of others, you avoid getting told to rightly piss off.

[MadDogSHWA]

But again, to me the claim that this is political, or inferring something like BLM is political is a red herring.

We're not supposed to discuss politics right? So the media brands any social justice issue as political.

[SHFT]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27852687/inside-lebron-james-adam-silver-make-break-moments-china

This article is interesting AF. I would recommend reading in full but here is some juicy stuff, much more in article.

The issue of China's sovereignty had been drilled into Team USA players who traveled to China for the FIBA World Cup just weeks before. One player from USA Basketball told ESPN that he "couldn't believe" Morey would take on the issue with a tweet after the way Team USA was warned about its complications

Silver opened the floor. James raised his hand.

His question was related to Morey -- and the commissioner's handling of the Rockets' GM. James, to paraphrase, told Silver that he knew that if a player caused the same type of uproar with something he said or tweeted, the player wouldn't be able to skate on it. There would be some type of repercussion. So, James wanted to know, what was Silver going to do about it in Morey's case?

Silver pushed back, reminding the players that the league never doled out discipline when they publicly criticized President Donald Trump. Morey was exercising the same liberty when he challenged China. Regardless of the financial fallout of one versus the other, that's not what should matter. Silver might have disliked the ramifications of Morey's tweet, but he would defend the right to say it.

But James wasn't finished.

The self-imposed media ban proved moot. The Chinese government canceled the pregame and postgame news conferences -- including Silver's -- for the Shanghai game, just as it had canceled the ancillary events that week. The feeling among NBA officials was that China viewed the games as the crown jewel. Anything that could potentially derail the games -- such as a player echoing what Silver said in Tokyo supporting Morey -- needed to be eliminated.

After days of agitation, Chinese officials seemed to relent and hint that they too wanted to see the games played. Although they didn't offer certainty that day, they essentially "nodded," according to an NBA China source.

For all the discomfort, the league had some leverage: There are hundreds of millions of NBA fans in China, after all.

[angrylawyeryyz]

China does not like it when its slaves...I mean citizens, have any hope of freedom.

[whoknows]

China does not like it when its slaves...I mean citizens, have any hope of freedom.

Communists are scared that their people would revolt against the monstrous leaders tyranny, and it is a matter of time before it will happen.

[kieferli]

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[kieferli]

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[whoknows]

apparently issue between chinese communist government & NBA is not buried yet...

“Silver has spared no effort to portray himself as a fighter for free speech and used freedom of speech as an excuse to cover for Morey, who voiced his support for the violent actors in Hong Kong,” it said. “This has crossed the bottom line of the Chinese people.”
Silver’s handling of the controversy had proved his “double standards”, the broadcaster said, adding that he had “defamed” China on the international stage.
“To please some American politicians, Silver has fabricated lies out of nothing and has sought to paint China as unforgiving,” it said.
The way in which the NBA boss had defended Morey showed he had “problems in his character”, the report said, adding that he “will receive retribution sooner or later”.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3033707/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-will-face-retribution-defaming

[sewerfrosh]

Great to see all you Hong Kong supporters out making your point. It will be great to see Trudeau out on his ass Tuesday as we've all heard him rave about the Chinese government and what a great system of rule they enforce. Thanks!!