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
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
×