LeBron James called Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey uneducated and went off at-length about the “negative” side-effects of free speech, in reaction to Morey’s tweet of support to pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.
On October 4th, Morey tweeted a message of support of Hong Kong’s demonstrators, saying: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”
That message touched off a firestorm of controversy as China canceled minor league exhibition games and canceled numerous business deals with the Rockets, and the NBA. On Monday, Lakers forward LeBron James spoke publicly about the incident for the first time, and didn’t mince words while calling Morey out for a tweet that he says could have caused people to be physically “harmed.”
Trump tells Zelenskyy to stop doing ‘one thing’ during attacks on Russia
Election chaos in this red state just got even stranger for Republicans after Supreme Court ruling
The Left Loves ‘Land Acknowledgements’: Here’s One That Honors Our Forefathers and Actually Tells the Truth About Native Tribes
Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel
Trump gives Smithsonian days to replace ‘strange modernist sculpture’ with Founding Father
Diesel Just Hit $5.90 a Gallon with Refineries Maxed Out: Winter Won’t Get Any Better
‘History Worth Teaching’: Trump Demands Smithsonian Replace Woke Modernist Nonsense Giant Statue of Washington
GOP women sound alarm as Lindsay Clancy backlash revives calls to repeal 19th Amendment: ‘Definitely a threat’
Georgia killer who murdered two suburban real estate agents faces execution after 23-year wait for justice
Burglar Armed with Submachine Gun Raids Missouri House: The Homeowner Sent Him Home in a Body Bag
Police Called to Kamala Harris’s Malibu Mansion After Unknown Woman ‘Illegally Entered’
With ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ we’re all choosin’ Ella Langley
Deep-pocketed donors flocked to the SPLC to heal America’s divisions. Did it pay off?
Penn State frat cocaine bust blows lid off wider stimulant scourge hitting college campuses — and beyond
Vulnerable House Republicans embrace Trump as GOP bets on defying midterm history
LeBron says he believes Rockets GM Daryl Morey wasn’t educated when he spoke about Hong Kong and that his tweet could have hurt a lot of people, including financially pic.twitter.com/UMj71DPQH7
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 15, 2019
The NBA received tremendous bipartisan criticism for their initial response to Morey’s tweet, when they responded by calling the post “regrettable” for the offense that it caused. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver eventually tried to quell the backlash by championing Morey’s free speech rights.
Trump tells Zelenskyy to stop doing ‘one thing’ during attacks on Russia
Election chaos in this red state just got even stranger for Republicans after Supreme Court ruling
The Left Loves ‘Land Acknowledgements’: Here’s One That Honors Our Forefathers and Actually Tells the Truth About Native Tribes
Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel
Trump gives Smithsonian days to replace ‘strange modernist sculpture’ with Founding Father
Diesel Just Hit $5.90 a Gallon with Refineries Maxed Out: Winter Won’t Get Any Better
‘History Worth Teaching’: Trump Demands Smithsonian Replace Woke Modernist Nonsense Giant Statue of Washington
GOP women sound alarm as Lindsay Clancy backlash revives calls to repeal 19th Amendment: ‘Definitely a threat’
Georgia killer who murdered two suburban real estate agents faces execution after 23-year wait for justice
Burglar Armed with Submachine Gun Raids Missouri House: The Homeowner Sent Him Home in a Body Bag
Police Called to Kamala Harris’s Malibu Mansion After Unknown Woman ‘Illegally Entered’
With ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ we’re all choosin’ Ella Langley
Deep-pocketed donors flocked to the SPLC to heal America’s divisions. Did it pay off?
Penn State frat cocaine bust blows lid off wider stimulant scourge hitting college campuses — and beyond
Vulnerable House Republicans embrace Trump as GOP bets on defying midterm history
Now, with the league representatives and players back from their tumultuous trip to China, it seemed like the news cycle of the NBA-China rift had died down. However, with James denouncing free speech in even stronger terms than the NBA did while calling a pro-democracy tweet “uneducated,” it’s difficult to see the crisis going away.
It’s also difficult to see why James would so willingly and unnecessarily reignite the controversy.
Then again, perhaps it makes sense after all. James is still the best and most popular player in the league. Moreover, for nearly ten years he’s championed numerous social justice causes and launched numerous attacks against President Trump, all to the delight of the sports media.
Maybe he’s become so used to being applauded for speaking his mind, that he no longer recognizes when he shouldn’t?
Story cited here.
