The NBA and China Look The Other Way
By Colin Callahan
The biggest story for The National Basketball Association this year has been the possibility of the NBA losing billions over a tweet.Why?
The Houston Rockets’ general manager, Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong protestors in their fight against the Chinese Government. Morey retracted the tweet because of all of the backlash. What’s the big problem, you might ask? Isn’t it well-known that the Chinese Government is not, and has never been, proponents of some basic human rights we take for granted?
The problem is money – money that the NBA makes from Chinese consumers of the NBA product.
The Chinese government imposed a ban on NBA telecasts and merchandise in response to Morey’s tweet, after which the NBA criticized Morey publicly for his tweet. China wanted more.
Government leaders wanted NBA commissioner Adam Silver to fire Morey. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said this has been “dramatic” for the league and the world.
China can monitor all things their citizens say online because they are under the same virtual personal network. Here in America, the U.S. Constitution says we don’t work that way.
China has a delicate relationship with the NBA, a partnership that began when superstar Yao Ming was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2002.
Since then the NBA has experienced a strong relationship with the Communist country. There have been exhibitions to spread the love of basketball, and its working. Everyone involved is making money. This relationship is bigger than basketball. Arguably, it has eased some (economic) tension between China and the United States.
China has censored others for speaking out about Hong Kong political problems. Pewdiepie, Youtube gamer giant, also voiced his support for Hong Kong citizens. China again responded with censorship of his content. This was a huge revenue loss for Pewdiepie. China does not seem capable of taking criticism for the wrongs it has committed,
China eventually lifted the ban on the NBA because it could not abide by the revenue loss.
Sad that the Chinese government cares more about money than their own citizens. Why won’t they lift the ban on Pewdiepie? Probably, because there is no economic incentive.
China’s government does not allow Chinese citizens to question or even find out what heinous actions it has carried out on the protesters in Hong Kong. Will the NBA continue to work with China? Adam Silver preaches freedom of speech among his players and front-office employees. Why would he want to work with China, when they suppress free speech? Does the NBA value wealth from a contract with a global superpower over free speech? Doesn’t China have similar values?
By Colin Callahan
The biggest story for The National Basketball Association this year has been the possibility of the NBA losing billions over a tweet.Why?
The Houston Rockets’ general manager, Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong protestors in their fight against the Chinese Government. Morey retracted the tweet because of all of the backlash. What’s the big problem, you might ask? Isn’t it well-known that the Chinese Government is not, and has never been, proponents of some basic human rights we take for granted?
The problem is money – money that the NBA makes from Chinese consumers of the NBA product.
The Chinese government imposed a ban on NBA telecasts and merchandise in response to Morey’s tweet, after which the NBA criticized Morey publicly for his tweet. China wanted more.
Government leaders wanted NBA commissioner Adam Silver to fire Morey. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said this has been “dramatic” for the league and the world.
China can monitor all things their citizens say online because they are under the same virtual personal network. Here in America, the U.S. Constitution says we don’t work that way.
China has a delicate relationship with the NBA, a partnership that began when superstar Yao Ming was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2002.
Since then the NBA has experienced a strong relationship with the Communist country. There have been exhibitions to spread the love of basketball, and its working. Everyone involved is making money. This relationship is bigger than basketball. Arguably, it has eased some (economic) tension between China and the United States.
China has censored others for speaking out about Hong Kong political problems. Pewdiepie, Youtube gamer giant, also voiced his support for Hong Kong citizens. China again responded with censorship of his content. This was a huge revenue loss for Pewdiepie. China does not seem capable of taking criticism for the wrongs it has committed,
China eventually lifted the ban on the NBA because it could not abide by the revenue loss.
Sad that the Chinese government cares more about money than their own citizens. Why won’t they lift the ban on Pewdiepie? Probably, because there is no economic incentive.
China’s government does not allow Chinese citizens to question or even find out what heinous actions it has carried out on the protesters in Hong Kong. Will the NBA continue to work with China? Adam Silver preaches freedom of speech among his players and front-office employees. Why would he want to work with China, when they suppress free speech? Does the NBA value wealth from a contract with a global superpower over free speech? Doesn’t China have similar values?