Diverse group of Americans take the woke sports league to task for supporting China over pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Both Republicans and Democrats have jumped to criticize the NBA for its support of China over the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, for instance, called the NBA’s reaction “disgusting” and added that it was “grotesque” for the league to punish a U.S. citizen just to “protect the NBA’s market in China.”
The controversy kicked off when over the weekend the NBA rebuked Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for a tweet reading, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” in which he came to the side of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The NBA quickly moved to rebuke Morey for his tweet for upsetting the Chinese government.
Just as quickly, Morey deleted his tweet and apologized.
Not only did the NBA clamor to side with the human rights-abusing Chinese government, but, worse, the league’s press release in China was more effusive in abject apology than its statement in the U.S. press: Clay Travis said "It gets worse for @nba. Per @FinancialTimes they provided statements that were translated differently in Chinese and English. Talk about duplicitous. Just pathetic."
Rubio was not the only Republican to slam the NBA for its slobbering support of oppressive China. Others, including Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Rick Scott, and others joined Rubio in criticizing the league. Scott said "It’s clear that the @NBA is more interested in money than human rights. Tonight’s statement from Commissioner Silver is an absolute joke."
A growing list of Democrats also took the NBA to task for its support of China over the pro-democracy movement: Chuck Schumer said "No one should implement a gag rule on Americans speaking out for freedom.
I stand with the people of Hong Kong in their pursuit of democratic rights." ■
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