When it comes to sports, most people are thinking football this time of year. But last week will be remembered as an epochal week for the NBA.
The league that prides itself on being outspoken for liberal values basically adopted China's policy on free speech.
Players and coaches were not allowed to speak to media before or after preseason games in China. At a press conference in Japan, a CNN reporter was shut down for asking a problematic question.
Two fans in Philadelphia were kicked out of game for carrying signs supporting anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong.
For a taste of what Americans think of all this, a GoFundMe campaign started raising money to print "Stand With Hong Kong" T-shirts. They will be handed out for free at the Los Angeles Lakers regular season opener.
As of Friday morning, it had raised almost $43,000.
And to think it all started with a tweet by Houston general manager Daryl Morey on Oct. 4:
"Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong."
China's Communist rulers were not pleased. They quickly cut or suspended partnerships with the NBA and sent the Rockets completely down the memory hole, removing all merchandise from stores and e-commerce sites.
Exporting its product to a customer base of 1.4 billion people is a core NBA business. The league quickly went into grovel mode, releasing a statement apologizing to China's offended fans.
The Chinese version called Morey's statements "inappropriate" and said the NBA was "extremely disappointed."
Morey deleted the tweet and apologized. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta tweeted that Morey does not speak for the organization "we are NOT a political organization."
The NBA is apolitical?
That would be news to Charlotte, N.C., where the NBA pulled its 2016 All-Star Game because the state "bathroom bill" blocked requirements for transgender bathrooms.
"I see hypocrisy," former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory told the Charlotte Observer. "They wanted to involve themselves with North Carolina commerce and an election, while not setting the same standard for China."
The NBA is hardly the first corporation to put profit over principle. That's the cost of doing business in China.
The unsavory balancing act goes all the way to the White House. CNN reported that President Trump, in hopes of nailing down a trade deal, assured Chinese president Xi Jinping in June that the U.S. would stay quiet about Hong Kong.
In that sense, he's finally found common ground with Gregg Popovich. San Antonio's coach has called Trump a "soulless coward," but he's declined to say a unkind word about Xi and the crackdown in Hong Kong.
Unlike other corporations, the NBA brands itself a moral leader on social issues. Commissioner Adam Silver was asked last year if the NBA was "the wokest pro league?"
"I understand that sentiment," he said, "and we're proud of that."
China doesn't do woke. Players and coaches who've protested America's social ills have gone silent this week. Speaking up would endanger billions of dollars, revenue that is split between players and owners.
"I'm going to comment on things that I feel comfortable speaking about," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
It's not that complicated. Hong Kong police are beating and tear-gassing people who want the freedoms we have in America.
Social media companies have been criticized for kowtowing to China, but most U.S. corporations have escaped serious public scrutiny in their dealings with Beijing. The Hong Kong protests have awakened the world to China's repression.
People are noticing things like the NBA building one of its three Chinese "NBA Academies" in Xinjiang province. That's where a million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking minority of Muslims, are held in "reeducation camps."
If the camps didn't have transgender bathrooms, perhaps the NBA would have said something.
The league is making the NFL look like a social justice thought leader. Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests split America along political lines, but everybody is blasting the NBA kneeling to China.
Eight members of Congress sent an open letter to Silver calling for the league to suspend activity in China.
Congratulations, NBA. When you get Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to sign the same letter, you've really accomplished something.
The backlash should make every corporation rethink its complicity with China. It's a complex issue that requires pragmatism mixed with principles. But Hong Kong has been a clarifying event.
The protesters say you are either for us or against us.
You are either for freedom of speech or against it.
When money is on the line, we now know where the NBA stands.
The above editorial appeared in the Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.). It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Subscribe
E-Paper
