Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting the Hong Kong protesters has sparked a debate between profit versus values. China has banned the broadcast of National Basketball Association games over state-run television network CCTN.
Chinese companies have pulled out sponsorships. Tencent, a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company has also stopped the broadcast of NBA games. The Houston Rockets are the most popular NBA team in China because Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming played in Houston his entire career.
The NBA champions freedom of speech but with this freedom comes responsibility. NBA and Lakers superstar LeBron James criticized Morey for being ”uneducated” about the situation in Hong Kong, not thinking of the bigger picture before he tweeted.
It is freedom of speech vs censorship. The league, which is in the United States, a nation wherein the freedom of speech is in it’s constitution, strongly espouses and advocates the freedom to speak and express opinion.
Does the NBA stand to lose millions in revenue because of Mr. Morey’s tweet? Will things simmer between the largest and second largest economies of the world?
Mr. Morey should’ve thought about the repercussions and consequences his tweet may cause. Should Mr. Morey be fired over the tweet? I say no because Mr. Morey has been an outstanding general manager for the Rockets and he is responsible for the building the Rockets into a title contender ever since he took over in 2007.
In my opinion, all this will pass and things will go back to normal. Also, in my opinion, Mr. Morey should’ve held back on his tweet knowing there are two NBA basketball teams playing exhibition games in China.
I’m all for freedom of speech but it has to come with responsibility and awareness of what scenarios and situations may arise especially if an NBA general manager didn’t think before he clicked.