US Senator Rick Scott demands meeting with NBA boss over Houston Rockets China furore following pro-Hong Kong protest tweet by GM Daryl Morey
- Backlash is growing over league’s statement on Rockets GM’s tweet in support of Hong Kong protests
- Florida Republican Scott seeks sit-down with commissioner Adam Silver about ‘NBA’s involvement in Communist China’
The National Basketball Association’s China crisis deepened on Monday as a ranking US senator demanded a meeting with the league’s commissioner and a backlash against its statement on a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong grew.
Senator Rick Scott, a Republican representing Florida, requested “a meeting with [NBA] Commissioner [Adam] Silver immediately to discuss the NBA’s involvement in Communist China”.
Scott has been one of the most vocal US lawmakers in terms of supporting the Hong Kong demonstrations, some violent, which have been interrupting commerce and shutting mass transit intermittently for more than four months in the semi-autonomous city.
“Men and women are risking their lives to fight for the same freedom we take advantage of in this country,” Scott said. “As Americans, it is our duty to stand together against injustice, and that means standing up to Communist China and President Xi [Jinping] as he violates the rights guaranteed under the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.”
The NBA said on its official social media account on China’s Weibo microblogging platform that it was “extremely disappointed” by Houston Rockets general manager Morey’s “inappropriate” tweet about Hong Kong, which “severely hurt the feelings of Chinese fans”.
The wording was different from that used in the NBA’s English statement, which did not use any of the above language, but did stress that Morey’s tweet did not represent the association. The NBA did not explicitly apologise for the tweet in either remark.
Morey’s now-deleted tweet, including an image in support of ongoing protests in Hong Kong, said: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong”. The post was sent soon after rioters in Hong Kong paralysed large swathes of the city, taking particular aim at mainland Chinese-owned banks and other institutions, to protest a law that bars the wearing of masks.
Morey backtracked after deleting that tweet, saying in another Twitter post that he did not intend “to cause any offence to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China”.
“I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event,” Morey added. “I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.”
But Morey’s appeal failed to curb angry commentary from China.
The Chinese Basketball Association and several companies have suspended cooperation with the Houston Rockets. Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning followed suit, as did Tencent’s online sports channel, which broadcasts National Basketball Association games, and the club’s sponsor in China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
“We are deeply shocked by the erroneous comments on Hong Kong made by Mr. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets,” a statement issued by China’s Houston consulate said.
Rockets boss explains Hong Kong tweet – but angry Chinese demand more
“We have lodged representations and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Houston Rockets, and urged the latter to correct the error and take immediate concrete measures to eliminate the adverse impact.”
The Rockets are very popular among China’s NBA fans, especially after the team drafted Chinese basketball star Yao Ming in 2002. Yao played eight seasons with the Rockets until he retired in 2011.
Back in the US on Monday, Marco Rubio, Florida’s other senator –also a Republican –added to the voices objecting to the NBA’s disavowal of Morey’s initial tweet.
“This is bigger than just the NBA,” Rubio said on Twitter. “It’s about China’s growing ability to restrict freedom of expression here in the US.”
As with many other issues related to China, the anti-Beijing blowback came from both parties.
Morey backtracks on ‘stand with Hong Kong’ tweet after backlash
Andrew Yang, a Democrat running for president in the 2020 election, said: “The Chinese government banning the Rockets is a terrible move.”
Beto O’Rourke, a former Democratic Texas Congressman also running for the White House in 2020, said in a Twitter post that “the only thing the NBA should be apologising for is their blatant prioritisation of profits over human rights. What an embarrassment”.
Many lawmakers in both parties have thrown their support behind a Hong Kong-focused bill that has angered China’s government.
Rubio sponsored the US Senate’s version of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, which would sanction individuals and entities seen by the US government to be violating the city’s autonomy from Mainland China. Scott, who returned from a visit to Hong Kong last week, is a co-sponsor of the bill along with 21 other senators.
The agreement China forged with Britain in 1984 guaranteed the city a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the UK handed sovereignty over Hong Kong back to Beijing in 1997.
Four more lawmakers in the House of Representatives joined as cosponsors of a similar bill in that chamber on Friday, bringing the total to 45. Both chambers are expected to vote on the bill on or before October 15.
