'NBA Rejected Chinese Request To Fire Morey'

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Chinese officials wanted Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to be fired for his tweet supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, and the league emphatically dismissed the request.

But Beijing on Friday denied the accusation, with foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, during a regular press briefing in Beijing, saying: “The Chinese government has never raised these kinds of demands.”

Earlier, during an appearance at the Time 100 Health Summit in New York, Silver had also said the league is already feeling “substantial” financial losses because of Chinese reaction to Morey’s deleted tweet.

"Obviously, we made clear that we were being asked to fire him by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business," Silver said.

"We said, 'There's no chance that's happening. There's no chance we'll even discipline him’.”

Silver also said he isn't sure what will happen to the NBA's relationship with China, which has been growing steadily over the last three decades.

The league and LeBron James, one of its biggest stars, have been heavily criticised by some US lawmakers for the perception that they caved to the Chinese regime. Morey has not been rebuked publicly by the league, and Silver has said that the league will support his freedom of expression.

"We wanted to make an absolute clear statement that the values of the NBA, these American values – we are an American business – travel with us wherever we go, and one of those values is free expression," Silver said. "We wanted to make sure everyone understood we were supporting free expression."

Morey has not commented publicly since a pair of tweets on October 6 attempting to clarify his position.

"I understand there is a point of view from some that we shouldn't be in business at all in China, and I'd say from an intellectual standpoint, that's fair – not getting into whether the tweet or the response to it," Silver said. "But if people believe that we shouldn't be engaged in commerce in China or frankly in other places in the world ... I, at some point, look to the American government.

"We're in the middle of negotiating a trade agreement," Silver continued. "Many multinational corporations do trade extensively with China. And if that's ultimately how our government feels we should be dealing with China, again, we are a US company."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV did not air the two NBA preseason games between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets last week. Tencent, which has a US$1.5 billion deal to stream NBA games on the mainland over the next five years, has also stopped showing Rockets games but has not totally dropped all NBA content.

"The losses have already been substantial," Silver said. "Our games are not back on the air in China, as we speak, and we'll see what happens next." (AFP, AP)

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