Adam Silver expounded upon the NBA's current situation regarding China and comments from Daryl Morey.
“There is no doubt, the economic impact is already clear,” Silver told reporters in Tokyo on Monday. “There have already been fairly dramatic consequences from that tweet, and I have read some of the media suggesting that we are not supporting Daryl Morey, but, in fact, we have.
“I think as a values-based organization that I want to make it clear … Daryl Morey is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression,” Silver continued. “... The fact we have apologized to fans in China is not inconsistent with supporting someone’s right to have a point of view.”
Hong Kong has seen a string of massive demonstrations sparked by concerns about a proposed extradition law that would allow the transfer of suspects accused of a crime to jurisdictions with which the city lacks an extradition deal, including mainland China.
"There are the values that have been part of this league from its earliest days, and that includes free expression," Silver said.
"I accept that it is also Chinese governments' and Chinese businesses' right to react to those words and, at least from my long-time experience in the NBA, it will take some time to heal some of these issues."
"We are a platform in which people can engage and I would like to believe that for each side who believes they have a point of view here, that this engagement is positive."
Via Kyodo News
