Post#7 » by scrabbarista » Mon Oct 7, 2019 6:24 am
I could type for a week straight about China if I needed to, but... from everything I've seen, Morey and Fertitta have handled this situation very well. I disagree with Morey deleting the tweet, though. It's a shame about that. But more on that below. His apology, I believe, was carefully worded to look like an apology without actually changing his stance, which I appreciate. Fertitta is right, the Rockets are not a political entity. The NBA is right to say it supports free speech. That's per their official statement as reported by espn.com - I think they used the term "expression," but basically, they meant free speech. So, it looks like the major parties are taking the right public stances. Also I'm thrilled Fertitta was immediately supportive of Morey. I can assure you, he felt the extremest of extreme pressures to fire Morey, and will likely continue to have that pressure directed at him (from Chinese sources and, if those Chinese sources can exert enough indirect pressure on them, from non-Chinese sources). I hope Fertitta, the NBA, and Morey all come through this without losing any of my respect. I'm glad Morey made this such a visible topic by bringing it before the eyes of basketball fans who might not have been aware of the situation in Hong Kong and the PRoC. I would rather have him post the tweet and then delete it than not post it at all, to be honest, as long as he doesn't outright repudiate the tweet.
The fact that the CBA, Tencent, Weibo, and Li-Ning are all pretty much saying they'll immediately cut all ties with the Rockets, jeopardizing billions in mutually beneficial business because of one six-word tweet, should be a clue as to the totalitarian nature of China, in case anyone is wondering. Granted, I can't think of a perfect parallel, but to get some idea, imagine if all four of the NBA, Google, Twitter, and Nike immediately cut all ties with Manchester United and outright refused to broadcast their games because one of its executives posted a tweet that said, "Fight for freedom. 2nd Amendment rights." This only happened because the CBA, Tencent, Weibo, Li-Ning, and every citizen of China and Hong Kong are required under threat of destruction to give undying, unquestioning allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. Opinions are not allowed in China, unless they're government sanctioned. Heck, opinions outside of China aren't allowed, if the CCP can do anything about it. I suppose the thread lock is coming. But that's how I see things. I just hope the parties involved all come through this with their public integrity still intact. Morey is right. To stand with Hong Kong is to stand on the side of freedom, against the side of tyranny and oppression. I already believed him to be the best GM in the NBA, but if he doesn't go back on his HK stance, my respect for him will have sky-rocketed to virtual hero-level.
