How One Tweet Ruined the NBA’s 9-year Relationship with China

On October 9, 2019, Daryl Morey, the general manager and an innovative figure of one of the most popular basketball teams, the Houston Rockets, posted a Tweet which stated: “Fight For Freedom, Stand With Hong Kong.”

This tweet had shattered the relationship that the NBA has built with the Chinese market in nine years that is estimated at over 1.5 billion. To understand why this tweet is so impactful, let’s take an in-depth look at the Hong Kong protest.

On April 3, 2019, the Hong Kong government established an extradition bill sparked by a case in which a Hong Kong man murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan, but he wasn’t allowed to transfer back to Hong Kong due to the law. With this bill, the government could have fugitives be transferred back to Hong Kong for penalization but also allow Hong Kong fugitives to be transferred to Mainland China for penalization.

The reason why Hong Kong citizens are furious and took it to the streets is due to the continuous interference of the “One country, two systems” rule from China and the distrust of the Chinese government’s legal system.

From China’s perspective, the protests are conducted by ruthless rioters controlled by foreign powers, so China definitely does not support this message being shared by one of the most important figures of the NBA’s Chinese fan base.

The LA Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets are also going to playing in China for preseason games, at perhaps the worst time. Right after the tweet, social media giant Tencent, national broadcaster CCTV, and more broadcasters are refusing to broadcast all the current NBA games or even the future games.

The impact would be huge for the NBA because more than 150 million people in China are NBA fans and there is a 1.5 billion dollar deal between Tencent and NBA. Without a doubt, the NBA plays a huge business role in China.

Afterward, the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, did not apologize for Morey’s actions but defended him with the freedom of speech and equality that are core American values, while one of the most popular players on the Rockets, James Harden, apologized for Morey’s actions.

Mass star Lebron James in LA lakers also came out criticizing Morey’s actions as being “not educated enough” and “misinformed on the situation”.

The reasons why these influential players are coming out to speak to the public is to defend themselves for money obviously, as the Chinese market plays a huge part in the player’s annual salary and sponsorship deals with Chinese companies.

With all the controversy going around the tweet, the large and hardcore fanbase of China is very unlikely to switch to different sports to watch even including the CBA, because NBA has almost been in China for 14 years and it’s more of a memory and childhood rather than just a sport.