The public relations crisis erupted when Daryl Morey posted tweets backing Hong Kong anti-government protesters.
China, which allows no dissent on the sensitive issue, immediately sought to punish the Rockets, with state-run TV cutting its games and Chinese sponsors abandoning the team. “I think as a values-based organisation that I want to make it clear… that Daryl Morey is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression,” Silver told Japan’s Kyodo News agency late Monday.
A Chinese-language version of the statement went further, saying the organisation was “deeply disappointed by the inappropriate remarks”.“We have seen various interpretations of the translation of the Mandarin version, but our statement in English is the league’s official statement,” he said. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, warned “no one should implement a gag rule on Americans speaking out for freedom”.
Hong Kong has been battered by four months of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests sparked by opposition to a now-scrapped bill that would have allowed extraditions of criminal suspects to China.
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