More fallout from the NBA controversy in China as a series of events in the country have been canceled amid the backlash for Daryl Morey Tweet.
NBA Controversy in China Going Nowhere
It seems like this situation with the NBA controversy in China is only getting worse. There was hope that cooler heads would prevail following the initial reactions but that has not been the case. It seems like this situation is going from bad to worse for the NBA. A series of NBA events scheduled to take place in China have been cancelled.
With commissioner Adam Silver not openly condemning Daryl Morey’s comments, China has taken swift action. Not only have events been cancelled but public support has been down. It can be very dangerous for someone to openly defy the government and at the moment, it seems like supporting the NBA openly might just fall under that category for the time being.
This Incident Has Taken on a Life of Its Own
Adam Silver was not the only NBA figurehead that refused to denounce Daryl Morey’s comments. San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich took the opportunity to lend his support to Adam Silver. That’s no surprise coming from Popovich who has always been outspoken about political issues.
Even the current president of the United States felt compelled to answer questions about the NBA controversy in China. As usual, instead of answering the question, he took the opportunity to take shots at people in the NBA for pandering to China. He singled out Popovich and Kerr for criticism. This again is not very surprising since those two coaches have been highly critical of the commander in chief.
Darryl Morey Messed Up Bigtime
When Daryl Morey decided to send that tweet, he really put a lot of people in a bad situation, especially his own team. The Rockets are the most popular team in China but that will probably not be the case moving forward. Broadcast company Tencent, which broadcasts NBA games has already said that they will not be showing the Houston Rockets until further notice.
China Cutting Ties All Over the Place
Apparently, banners that have the NBA logo that had been hanging in the streets to promote the preseason games have been taken down. Several murals of the Houston Rockets have been painted over and posters removed. These are a few of the way that the NBA controversy in China have taken its toll.
The NBA’s plan to expand its brand globally starts with China. With over half a billion people that watch the NBA, it’s a massive market. The Chinese basketball league has already announced that it is cutting ties with the Houston Rockets. The reason that’s such a big deal is that Houston Rockets legend Yao Ming is the president of the Chinese basketball federation. Although his personal opinion on the matter is not known, it is said that he is very troubled by the current situation.
This story is far from over, especially considering Adam Silver can’t really back down. The NBA’s relationship with China will probably never be the same.
