China cancels NBA stuff / Silver issues statement (pg1) /Ongoing discussion...

[Liminy]

They don't have choice. Morey basically just spoke on behalf of the NBA in China's eyes

Chinese viewership is one of the key cogs of the NBA's revenue base, & no point in jeopardizing it because of the stupidity of one guy who was ignorant enough to think there would be no backlash

He should have swallowed his conscience and censored himself? If there is a place to take a moral stand in the world, it is against China's incredible record of violence and oppression not to mention censorship and using threats to keep everyone quite about their abuses. They can't even stand people in the us bringing it up.

Didn't we just invade Iraq and Afghanistan for no reason 2 decades ago, and still have a presence there. Look in the mirror bro.[/quote

This is just my personal opinion. The CCP stands on the top of the list of the worst offenders in the world. You might not be aware of this:

"Falun Gong is a modern day spiritual/exercise movement which began in China in 1991 drawing on and combining ancient Chinese traditions. The Chinese Communist Party, alarmed at the growth of the movement and fearing for its own ideological supremacy banned the movement in 1999. Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in the hundreds of thousands and asked to recant. If they did not, they were tortured. If they still did not recant, they disappeared. Allegations surfaced in 2006 that the disappeared were being killed for their organs which were sold for large sums mostly to foreign transplant tourists. It is generally accepted that China kills prisoners for organs. The debate is over whether the prisoners who are killed are only criminals sentenced to death or Falun Gong practitioners as well. The authors produced a report concluding that the allegations were true. Bloody Harvest sets out the investigations and conclusions of the authors." https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Harvest-Organ-Harvesting-Practitioners/dp/0980887976

Documented from many sources

[IAMZOOTED2]

Shout out to my punjabis. NBA India fittna take the baton. Africa, we comin....

[SlowPaced]

LOL @ all the US imperialists calling China "authoritarian". LOL @ the same old trite "human rights" card being played once more when NBA teams periodically wear camo. Your terrorist soldiers killed over 10 million (and counting) Arab civilians in less than 30 years, your beloved NBA teams think that's something worth celebrating... but of course the problem is China, right?
Can't wait for the day you get fed your own medicine.

Can't wait for us to get fed our own medicine? And what exactly would that be? Interesting.

You better not watch the NBA or you are one hell of a hypocrite.

Judging by his pro-China take, use of collectivistic language that targets all Americans for the actions of the United States and the use of the word "imperalist", he's most likely a communist. Expecting reasonable takes from a communist is setting yourself up for disappointment.

[scrabbarista]

No way ESPN will let her do a monologue about it either. ESPN is owned by Disney, no way Disney is going to take any kind of chance of taking a hit with China. China is beginning to bring in more money for movies than the US, Disney aint risking hurting that relationship.

Yep, that too.

And should be noted that you're unlikely to see Chinese villains in Hollywood based movies in the near future because of that. They're trying to appeal to the Chinese market.

In fact, WB decided not to release the Dark Knight in China simply because one of the villains (Lau) was Chinese, even though he only had a very small role. They just canceled the plan to release in China altogether because they didn't want a formal rejection....which likely means some official from China saw it and just unofficially told them it was likely to be rejected. WB cited "cultural sensitivities in some elements of the film" as the reasons.

What a shame. The good people of China missed out on a great movie.

I remember like five or six years ago they were filming multiple versions so one version could protect the feelings of the sensitive Communist psyche in China. I would assume that by now they've just moved on to filming it how China wants it, and then releasing that version everywhere. My Hollywood attentiveness fell off hard when I found out about some... stuff... that goes on there about a year ago, though, so I couldn't say for sure.

[scrabbarista]

LOL @ all the US imperialists calling China "authoritarian". LOL @ the same old trite "human rights" card being played once more when NBA teams periodically wear camo. Your terrorist soldiers killed over 10 million (and counting) Arab civilians in less than 30 years, your beloved NBA teams think that's something worth celebrating... but of course the problem is China, right?
Can't wait for the day you get fed your own medicine.

Can't wait for us to get fed our own medicine? And what exactly would that be? Interesting.

You better not watch the NBA or you are one hell of a hypocrite.

Judging by his pro-China take, use of collectivistic language that targets all Americans for the actions of the United States and the use of the word "imperalist", he's most likely a communist. Expecting reasonable takes from a communist is setting yourself up for disappointment.

But trying to elicit one can be a fun game, if you have the patience for it.

[GeorgeMarcus]

LOL @ all the US imperialists calling China "authoritarian". LOL @ the same old trite "human rights" card being played once more when NBA teams periodically wear camo. Your terrorist soldiers killed over 10 million (and counting) Arab civilians in less than 30 years, your beloved NBA teams think that's something worth celebrating... but of course the problem is China, right?
Can't wait for the day you get fed your own medicine.

Can you at least feed it to me “here comes the airplane” style? Otherwise I’m gonna make a mess

[G35]

From yesterday:

Read on Twitter

While there is a good point about the NBA and Adam Silver bending over backwards for China is unexcusable. I don't understand the finger point to Kerr, Pop or Lebron for not commenting on a crisis happening outside the U.S., unless the issue in Hong Kong is different from all other international incidents that happen outside the U.S. that those 3 people in question haven't commented on.

Trying to tie the issues Lebron, Kerr & Pop made comments on in the past as hypocritical, is extremely suspect to me and I feel go beyond the issue with Morey being silenced by the NBA.

Like someone was waiting for that "Aha!" moment, to delegitimize the issue those three men did bring up.

Maybe, I'm missing something and someone can clarify why Lebron, Pop & Kerr should speak up about this and the fact they haven't "immediately" made a statement is hypocritical.

Yeah, this is stupid and smells strongly of Trump apologism/classic "PC" criticism. There's also nothing hypocritical about being more educated and more passionate about what's going on domestically versus what's going on in HK.

I can't stand childish whataboutism. "Oh Kerr denounced Trump? Why hasn't he said anything about X civil case? That means he just wants brownie points and doesn't feel strongly about our corroding democracy!"

It seems you are changing your stance on these sensitive topics.

I personally do not care if Pop/Kerr/Lebron speak out Kaepernick/anthem/BLM issues. But then people should not call out others if they do not speak out or care to take a stance.

As you said, there is nothing hypocritical about being more educated or passionate about a topic than someone else. It is very difficult to be very educated about what is going on everywhere in the world. There is too much going on.

But then the same thing can be said about the United States. Too much is going on. If a human rights issue happens in Camden, NJ and another happens in Austin, TX and another happens in Boise, ID and another happens in Portland Oregon and another happens in Huntington Beach, CA, I'm not going to be able to keep up with all of them.

Sometimes, these are local issues and the people locally are probably the best ones to address it. However, in the current climate, if you do not speak out on every issue then you become "part of the problem". Which I think is BS.

So I agree, stop saying "What about X speaking about Y"

Personally, we all have dirt in our own backyards to worry about. If people did more to address their immediate environment i.e. families, children, education, job, neighbors and stopped trying to get attention by saving the world from things that have been going on since humans have been around we'd all be better off.

It's like Lebron trying to tell the Warriors how they can get better. No, Lebron, worry about your own issues, you got plenty to clean up in your own backyard.......

[CarMalone]

I think the major issue that Americans are missing is that questions about Chinese sovereignty by an outsider are a very sensitive topic. This was not just a tweet about human rights or trade practices, it was about the territorial integrity of a Chinese region. This sentiment is not just a government sentiment, it is one shared by a billion Chinese citizens including millions living overseas. China suffered a century of ruthless and humiliating aggression from the Western powers who sought to divide China. Westerners saw a divided China as a weak China that could be colonized by imperialism. There's a famous Henri Meyer cartoon that few Americans will recognize, but almost every Chinese will. Heck, mainland China was not even recognized by the UN until 1971.

Chinese people understand that there are serious internal problems within the country and many of these are openly debated, but issues regarding Chinese sovereignty are a different matter and elicit a much different reaction. They invoke terrible memories that persist to this day. The message to the NBA was clear, you can criticize Chinese sovereignty all you want, but don't expect them to buy billions of dollars of your product.

[13th Man]

No offense, but politics have been in sports for decades. And honestly, anytime you pay for anything involving public figures, there will always be a chance politics is involved. You been around for too long not to know that. I don't understand how that bothers you that much. It is not like every game, there is a 30 min segment devoted to politics. You have occasional outbursts from vocal players. Sports is 75% the game, 25% the other stuff. When you think about it, what form of entertainment doesn't have politics? Movies? Sure. Sports? Sure. Music? Sure.

I am not sure what you mean by the NBA supporting and encouraging this type of behavior. Is the NBA supposed to censor speech? If Lebron James isn't allow to speak up, or is discouraged, wouldn't that create even more of a backlash?

Regardless of the company, there will always be a risk of a vocal employee causing a political firestorm. Disney isn't the NBA, but when Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan, spoke up in favor of the Hong Kong police, it created a political nightmare for them too. You can't prevent every incident no matter what your stance is.

It's the point that politics should stay out of sports no matter how small or big the impact on people which is subjectable. It's starts off with something innocent like topic A, then goes onto topic B then onto topic C. Where is the line before you reach topic X? Nobody knows because the lines vary from each person depending on their perspective.

Yes, I have watched sports shows which have engaged on topics that do bother me. You understand as well as I do that political discussion can be a point of contention to different people. So why allow or encourage this type of controversial discussion when it's not really necessary? Do you really think more good comes out of SJW activism than bad?

Again, when I watch sports I don't want to be riled up by political discussion. This has already happened with the NFL losing a ton of viewership. It happened to Gilette when they offended men by trying to pussify us. Seriously, we don't need this in sports because it will only turn ugly rather than help out the general public.

Politics is part of life. In today's arena, players have voices that can reach far beyond any normal person with Twitter, Facebook, etc. There will always be politics in sports because it is human nature to want to speak out on certain things. The NFL is a good example why I don't get why you are all bothered by it. The players protest for 10 minutes during the singing of the anthem. It is not like they are protesting half the game. But people are complaining as if the players got on to their knees after every scrimmage.

Again, I don't see how you can ban political discussion or discourage discussion without getting a enormous amount of backlash. Speaking out for a cause is not a bad thing and yes, it will lead to a firestorm one day. But the NBA will need to learn how to put it out.

Because where is it going to stop? You say that nobody should be bothered by players kneeling. Then they start to bash political figures that they don't like. Then they start talking about people sharing public restrooms. Then they talk about China. See my point? Where do you draw the line? Many of these are controversial topics backed by political agenda, just because you are ok with them doesn't mean that others aren't. And because there is no line, the NBA now look like hypocrites because they backed on SJW issue but not another. This is what happens is when you give people an inch, they eventually want to take a mile its just human nature.

It's easy, just put policies in place, corporations do this all the time. Nobody is saying that they can't have an opinion or cannot speak their minds. How about doing it on your own time and not use your employer's time and platform for it? Why is that so hard to abide by?

[seccom]

LOL @ all the US imperialists calling China "authoritarian". LOL @ the same old trite "human rights" card being played once more when NBA teams periodically wear camo. Your terrorist soldiers killed over 10 million (and counting) Arab civilians in less than 30 years, your beloved NBA teams think that's something worth celebrating... but of course the problem is China, right?
Can't wait for the day you get fed your own medicine.

Can't wait for us to get fed our own medicine? And what exactly would that be? Interesting.

You better not watch the NBA or you are one hell of a hypocrite.

That is classical Whatistism from CCP 50 cents Army.

[Pharmcat]

NBA: We care about causes, as long as doing so contributes to our selfish ambitions.

or it doesnt hurt the ambition...but you are spot on

[13th Man]

Honestly, I knew something like this would happen in time, just didn't think it would be so abrupt. It's like Morey poked a stick into a hornets nest without realizing the magnitude of the situation and it's implications.

This is what happens when you condone and encourage SJW type behaviour, everybody thinks that they're world changers all of the sudden and that they're opinions are so important. How about stick to what you're good at rather than be Mr. Influencer on controversial topics you have little real knowledge of.

[G35]

It's the point that politics should stay out of sports no matter how small or big the impact on people which is subjectable. It's starts off with something innocent like topic A, then goes onto topic B then onto topic C. Where is the line before you reach topic X? Nobody knows because the lines vary from each person depending on their perspective.

Yes, I have watched sports shows which have engaged on topics that do bother me. You understand as well as I do that political discussion can be a point of contention to different people. So why allow or encourage this type of controversial discussion when it's not really necessary? Do you really think more good comes out of SJW activism than bad?

Again, when I watch sports I don't want to be riled up by political discussion. This has already happened with the NFL losing a ton of viewership. It happened to Gilette when they offended men by trying to pussify us. Seriously, we don't need this in sports because it will only turn ugly rather than help out the general public.

Politics is part of life. In today's arena, players have voices that can reach far beyond any normal person with Twitter, Facebook, etc. There will always be politics in sports because it is human nature to want to speak out on certain things. The NFL is a good example why I don't get why you are all bothered by it. The players protest for 10 minutes during the singing of the anthem. It is not like they are protesting half the game. But people are complaining as if the players got on to their knees after every scrimmage.

Again, I don't see how you can ban political discussion or discourage discussion without getting a enormous amount of backlash. Speaking out for a cause is not a bad thing and yes, it will lead to a firestorm one day. But the NBA will need to learn how to put it out.

Because where is it going to stop? You say that nobody should be bothered by players kneeling. Then they start to bash political figures that they don't like. Then they start talking about people sharing public restrooms. Then they talk about China. See my point? Where do you draw the line? Many of these are controversial topics backed by political agenda, just because you are ok with them doesn't mean that others aren't. And because there is no line, the NBA now look like hypocrites because they backed on SJW issue but not another. What happens is when you give people an inch, they eventually want to take a mile.

It's easy, just put policies in place, corporations do this all the time. Nobody is saying that they can't have an opinion or cannot speak their minds. How about doing it on your own time and not use your employer's time and platform for it? Why is that so hard to abide by?

That is exactly the point.

It's like the difference between a player forcing a trade and a team trading a player. When a player forces a trade they are only affecting themselves and they are only looking out for themselves. A team trades a player to either look out for the rest of the team, the franchise, the fans, the workers for the team etc.

The team has to consider way more factors than a player does.

Just like when a player decides to protest on company time, it affects the team and the league. Now the the team, the league, the other players have to answer for a few players actions.

If a player decides to do something "off duty" they are only answering for themselves. If you are trying to do something for a good cause then why do you have to do it during business hours? It seems now its more about getting attention than actually getting something done. More things can get done when a bunch media is not around than when everyone is trying to get their piece of the attention.

Now you can't tell if a player is genuine anymore or if they are just saying things to be relevant.

If I had a cause I believed in and I truly wanted real action to happen, I would not put it on twitter or alert the media or let any "leaks" to happen. I would just go and get it done. If I want to help the community I grew up in, its very easy to go and do something without causing controversy. If I wanted to get a ride along with the local police, you don't have to announce it on social media.

Your place of employment does not have to be and should not be involved. They have their own community outreach programs. I'm pretty sure that's one of the clauses in pro contracts is having to do volunteer work......

[winter_mute_13]

I think the major issue that Americans are missing is that questions about Chinese sovereignty by an outsider are a very sensitive topic. This was not just a tweet about human rights or trade practices, it was about the territorial integrity of a Chinese region. This sentiment is not just a government sentiment, it is one shared by a billion Chinese citizens including millions living overseas. China suffered a century of ruthless and humiliating aggression from the Western powers who sought to divide China. Westerners saw a divided China as a weak China that could be colonized by imperialism. There's a famous Henri Meyer cartoon that few Americans will recognize, but almost every Chinese will. Heck, mainland China was not even recognized by the UN until 1971.

I grew up with this stuff. IMO it's not helpful. The best revenge, as they say, is to live well. China and the different ethnic Chinese populations, whether in the mainland or outside, have done well for themselves by any standard. There's really no need to hold on to the grievances of the past.

Chinese people understand that there are serious internal problems within the country and many of these are openly debated, but issues regarding Chinese sovereignty are a different matter and elicit a much different reaction. They invoke terrible memories that persist to this day. The message to the NBA was clear, you can criticize Chinese sovereignty all you want, but don't expect them to buy billions of dollars of your product.

This is fair. Freedom for one party also implies freedom for the other. The West needs to hold up a mirror to themselves and look at the logical consequences of a system where profit is king.

[Johnny Bball]

LOL @ all the US imperialists calling China "authoritarian". LOL @ the same old trite "human rights" card being played once more when NBA teams periodically wear camo. Your terrorist soldiers killed over 10 million (and counting) Arab civilians in less than 30 years, your beloved NBA teams think that's something worth celebrating... but of course the problem is China, right?
Can't wait for the day you get fed your own medicine.

Can you at least feed it to me “here comes the airplane” style? Otherwise I’m gonna make a mess

I'm trying to figure out if his 10 million number was funnier than your response. Toss up for me. Both pretty good.

[winter_mute_13]

I like Morey for speaking out for what he believed. It's just too bad that he retracted his action. It does seem to imply that rather than being a bold statement of solidarity, it was more the case that he didn't think through the consequences.

Well, everyone else in the NBA now gets a chance to put their values on display. You know, the NBA is hugely profitable even without the Chinese market. Is chasing ever more zeros really the best goal for the NBA?

[Mephariel]

It's the point that politics should stay out of sports no matter how small or big the impact on people which is subjectable. It's starts off with something innocent like topic A, then goes onto topic B then onto topic C. Where is the line before you reach topic X? Nobody knows because the lines vary from each person depending on their perspective.

Yes, I have watched sports shows which have engaged on topics that do bother me. You understand as well as I do that political discussion can be a point of contention to different people. So why allow or encourage this type of controversial discussion when it's not really necessary? Do you really think more good comes out of SJW activism than bad?

Again, when I watch sports I don't want to be riled up by political discussion. This has already happened with the NFL losing a ton of viewership. It happened to Gilette when they offended men by trying to pussify us. Seriously, we don't need this in sports because it will only turn ugly rather than help out the general public.

Politics is part of life. In today's arena, players have voices that can reach far beyond any normal person with Twitter, Facebook, etc. There will always be politics in sports because it is human nature to want to speak out on certain things. The NFL is a good example why I don't get why you are all bothered by it. The players protest for 10 minutes during the singing of the anthem. It is not like they are protesting half the game. But people are complaining as if the players got on to their knees after every scrimmage.

Again, I don't see how you can ban political discussion or discourage discussion without getting a enormous amount of backlash. Speaking out for a cause is not a bad thing and yes, it will lead to a firestorm one day. But the NBA will need to learn how to put it out.

Because where is it going to stop? You say that nobody should be bothered by players kneeling. Then they start to bash political figures that they don't like. Then they start talking about people sharing public restrooms. Then they talk about China. See my point? Where do you draw the line? Many of these are controversial topics backed by political agenda, just because you are ok with them doesn't mean that others aren't. And because there is no line, the NBA now look like hypocrites because they backed on SJW issue but not another. What happens is when you give people an inch, they eventually want to take a mile.

It's easy, just put policies in place, corporations do this all the time. Nobody is saying that they can't have an opinion or cannot speak their minds. How about doing it on your own time and not use your employer's time and platform for it? Why is that so hard to abide by?

How often do they do that? 90%+ of the time, you turned on the football game, you see people playing football. You turned on a basketball game, you see basketball. How often do you hear about those topics in the middle of the game? Almost never. If you hear about the political issues, it is because you want to read about it online. So I don't see how this affects the product. If you don't like the politics, don't click on twitter links or read articles. But the fact that you do should tell you why politics is a part of life and you can't just get rid of it. It is human nature to be curious about what others are saying and it is human nature to say it. You keep saying where it is going to stop as if players are not playing the game anymore. They are, but they are also public figures that will voice their opinions.

As for putting policies in place, unless they ban the use of Twitter, facebook, etc, how are they going to stop it? NBA players have multiple platforms they can use outside of work hours. And why stop it? Social commentary is part of the reason the players have followers and it increase popularity of the NBA's reach.

[mowcrowbar]

I hope to see less Chinese pandering from now on.

[clyde21]

This is the best thing happen to HK. NBA is just a hypocrite organization.

This thread is going to be locked soon.

Go to reddit nba and other reddit team site to express your opinion.

Hong Kong is really a non-issue compared to the concentration camps that are in Xinjiang. Ugyhurs are literally being wipe off the fact of the planet as we speak.

we don't care about Uyghers tho

but Hong Kong...WHERE IS THE FREEDOM...DEMOCRACAYYYYY

[cursedsportsfan]

Can't wait for us to get fed our own medicine? And what exactly would that be? Interesting.

You better not watch the NBA or you are one hell of a hypocrite.

Judging by his pro-China take, use of collectivistic language that targets all Americans for the actions of the United States and the use of the word "imperalist", he's most likely a communist. Expecting reasonable takes from a communist is setting yourself up for disappointment.

But trying to elicit one can be a fun game, if you have the patience for it.

Exactly.