As a team owner, Tsai, who declined to comment for this article, has emphasized helping the N.B.A. make inroads in China, where basketball has become the most popular sport. While the letter may have helped his efforts, it also crystallized the league’s decision to bow to economic pressure from its partners in China over support in the United States for Morey and the Hong Kong protesters.
“All the Americans on Twitter are criticizing NBA for not supporting freedom of speech,” Kai Qu, a tech blogger, wrote on the online platform WeChat. “On Weibo,” he wrote, referring to China’s equivalent of Twitter, “the Chinese are all criticizing NBA for not openly condemning and punishing. It’s a great cultural clash. Anybody who was caught in between will have no way to get out of it.”

The Chinese love basketball, that much we know. Whose side are you on in this politics meets sports debate?

Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey: He expressed support for protesters who have taken to the Hong Kong streets against a Chinese extradition bill that opponents believe would infringe upon Hong Kong’s limited independence.

Chinese hoops officials: Because of Morey’s comments, they cut ties with the Rockets, who has had a strong bond with China since drafting China’s native  Yao Ming.

Sided Political Talk

VERIFIED

Freedom of speech is a decently important thing in America