NBA Eyes China Return 5 Years After Morey Controversy, Reveals Adam Silver

Created on:

By: Mike

On October 4, 2019, Daryl Morey, who was the general manager of the Houston Rockets at the time, posted a tweet that significantly altered the NBA’s relationship with the global market.

This tweet came during one of the most prominent sports controversies of the late 2010s, when Morey voiced his support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with a call to “fight for freedom” and “stand with Hong Kong.” This stance prompted a strong reaction from China, where Hong Kong is managed as a special administrative region, and resulted in financial losses for the NBA estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since then, circumstances have evolved, with enough change noted by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a conference in New York on Thursday, suggesting the potential for the NBA to re-enter China, the world’s most populated nation.

“I think we will bring games back to China at some point,” Silver mentioned, as reported by ESPN. “The Chinese government had previously removed our games from the air. We understood and accepted this. We maintained our values, and anyone in our league retains the freedom to express their political views,” he added.

At the time of Morey’s controversial tweet, the Rockets were in Japan for two preseason games against the Toronto Raptors. Both Morey and the NBA later expressed regret over the tweet, which subsequently led to significant bipartisan criticism within the United States.

Daryl Morey now serves as the president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, a position he has occupied since November 2020.

More NBA Updates

feed

Similar posts:

Leave a Comment