Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

China’s State TV Network Cancels All NBA Broadcasts

China’s State TV Network Cancels All NBA Broadcasts

The announcement follows the NBA commissioner’s freedom of speech defense of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who has been under fire since tweeting his support for the Hong Kong protests last week.

The NBA has been canceled in China until further notice, the country’s state broadcaster said Tuesday.

The announcement follows the American basketball league’s commissioner, Adam Silver, defending Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s right to free speech after the latter tweeted his support for the ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

“I have read some of the media suggesting that we are not supporting Daryl Morey, but in fact we have,” Silver told Kyodo News on Monday ahead of a promotional event in Japan. “I think as a values-based organization that I want to make it clear … that Daryl Morey is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression.”

Silver’s remarks did not go unnoticed in China, where they were met with a heavy-handed response.

“We are strongly dissatisfied and opposed to Adam Silver’s claim to support Morey’s freedom of expression,” China Central Television (CCTV) wrote Tuesday on microblogging platform Weibo. “We believe any speech that challenges national sovereignty and social stability is not within the scope of freedom of speech.”

The network said that, in light of Silver’s comments, it had suspended all broadcasts of NBA games in China, effective immediately. Also on Tuesday, tech giant Tencent - which earlier this year extended its cooperation with the NBA by inking a five-year deal worth $1.5 billion - announced that it had suspended broadcasts of all remaining preseason games. According to Bloomberg, a whopping 800 million people in China watched NBA programming last season, much of which was made available through the league’s 30-year partnership with CCTV.

Multiple public relations representatives for NBA China had not responded to Sixth Tone’s requests for comment by time of publication. However, Silver himself addressed the broadcast ban Tuesday evening to say that the league prides itself on diversity - of ethnicities, religions, backgrounds, and opinions - and that he stands by his comments.

“For those who question our motivation, this is about far more than growing our business,” he said in a press release. “The NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees, and team owners say or will not say on these issues. We simply could not operate that way.”

On Friday, Morey had tweeted an image with the words “FIGHT FOR FREEDOM STAND WITH HONG KONG” - a mantra for the city’s anti-government protests, which have been ongoing since June. Though the tweet was later deleted, CCTV and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) jointly announced Monday that they had severed all ties with the team, including broadcasts and promotional events.

The Houston Rockets are by far the most popular NBA team in China, thanks to the Hall of Fame career of the team’s Shanghai-born center, Yao Ming. Yao - who has served as the CBA’s chairman since 2017 - has not commented publicly about the public relations predicament facing his former team.

On Monday, Rockets merchandise was removed from Alibaba-owned e-commerce website Taobao, with searches for “Rockets,” “Rockets jersey,” “Houston Rockets,” and similar terms no longer returning results. The same day, Communist Party-backed newspaper People’s Daily quoted an unnamed Alibaba spokesperson as saying that Morey’s post had “seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.”

In an open letter Monday, Joe Tsai - the executive vice chairman of Alibaba and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, another NBA franchise - referred to the Hong Kong protests as a “separatist movement,” further fanning the flames of a territorial sovereignty-versus-free speech debate sparked by Morey’s tweet.

“What is the problem with people freely expressing their opinion?” wrote Tsai, who has rarely spoken out publicly on political affairs. “The one thing that is terribly misunderstood, and often ignored, by the western press and those critical of China is that 1.4 billion Chinese citizens stand united when it comes to the territorial integrity of China and the country’s sovereignty over her homeland. This issue is non-negotiable.”

Despite Tsai’s toeing of the party line, a Brooklyn Nets event scheduled to take place the next day in Shanghai was abruptly canceled by Chinese authorities, according to the South China Morning Post. Shanghai’s sports bureau confirmed Wednesday that it had called off the event because of “inappropriate” remarks by Morey and Silver.

Morey apologized for his remarks Monday on social media. The same day, a New York Times reporter tweeted a statement from the NBA calling the backlash over Morey’s comments “regrettable” - a sentiment that sparked a backlash of its own from several U.S. public figures, including Democratic Party presidential candidates Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×