Why the N.B.A. Apologized to China Over Daryl Morey’s Tweet About Hong Kong

HONG KONG — The N.B.A. is widely seen as the most permissive of the major American sports leagues when it comes to freewheeling speech, allowing its athletes and other representatives to speak out on thorny political matters without fear of retribution.

Unless, apparently, the autocratic leaders of a lucrative market raise a stink.

On Sunday, the N.B.A. became the latest international organization to struggle in a tiptoe act with China, a country with a fan base worth billions of dollars but a hair-trigger tolerance for comments that offend its political sensibilities.

The league suddenly found itself in the middle of an intractable political conflict over the future of Hong Kong, caught between maintaining its image at home and saving crucial business interests abroad.

The episode began Friday night, when Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted an image on Twitter that included a slogan commonly chanted during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” He quickly deleted the tweet, but the damage was done.

Source: The New York Times

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