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.”
This sparsely populated red state quietly climbed to the top of America’s financial rankings
Most dramatic moments from Rep Mike Lawler’s fiery debate against Dem Cait Conley in battle for House control
San Jose girl, 8, dies after living in cockroach-infested home as mother, stepfather face charges
Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt opens up about Trump, motherhood
Pentagon sends hundreds of Army troops to Latin America for training as drug-trafficking campaign expands
Trump announces advanced weapons testing ‘super range’ in Montana
MS NOW Falsely Reports Kash Patel Is in Russia – Gets Brutally Fact-Checked Directly by the FBI
Tension erupts during House midterm debate as Lawler fact-checks New York Democrat opponent on immigration
‘Serial Killer’ Concerns Grip Michigan’s Capital as Similarities Are Noted in 5 Recent Deaths
Copper theft suspect’s desperate escape caught on bodycam video before deputies discover what he left behind
Trump torches Democrats at Arizona rally, warns they will ‘destroy our country’ ahead of midterms
Will Trump’s contempt for Zelensky force Ukraine to choose between an election and survival?
FBI Says Saudi OpenAI Employee Bugged Company to Spy on Top Executives
Federal agents seize phone of Rep. Ilhan Omar in raid tied to immigration fraud probe
DOJ threatens emergency legal action against California over suspected noncitizen voters
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.
This sparsely populated red state quietly climbed to the top of America’s financial rankings
Most dramatic moments from Rep Mike Lawler’s fiery debate against Dem Cait Conley in battle for House control
San Jose girl, 8, dies after living in cockroach-infested home as mother, stepfather face charges
Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt opens up about Trump, motherhood
Pentagon sends hundreds of Army troops to Latin America for training as drug-trafficking campaign expands
Trump announces advanced weapons testing ‘super range’ in Montana
MS NOW Falsely Reports Kash Patel Is in Russia – Gets Brutally Fact-Checked Directly by the FBI
Tension erupts during House midterm debate as Lawler fact-checks New York Democrat opponent on immigration
‘Serial Killer’ Concerns Grip Michigan’s Capital as Similarities Are Noted in 5 Recent Deaths
Copper theft suspect’s desperate escape caught on bodycam video before deputies discover what he left behind
Trump torches Democrats at Arizona rally, warns they will ‘destroy our country’ ahead of midterms
Will Trump’s contempt for Zelensky force Ukraine to choose between an election and survival?
FBI Says Saudi OpenAI Employee Bugged Company to Spy on Top Executives
Federal agents seize phone of Rep. Ilhan Omar in raid tied to immigration fraud probe
DOJ threatens emergency legal action against California over suspected noncitizen voters
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.
