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.”
Alabama governor commutes death sentence as doubts emerge about evidence in murder conviction
University president sounds alarm as nearly half of students justify violence to stop ‘hate speech’
DHS launches nationwide ICE operation targeting illegal immigrants accused of SNAP food stamp fraud
Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for deputy’s murder as state closes in on execution record
Pennsylvania Welfare Supervisor Accused of Stealing Thousands in Food Stamps, Trading Them for Crack Cocaine
Trump Announces New Fraud Bounty Program, Nick Shirley First to Cash In
U2 Singer Bono Attacks Christians and Jews Who Support Ending Government Waste, Shuttering USAID
Husband of Democratic Party Chair Charged with Stealing $20 Million from Federal Education Grants
Honduran illegal immigrant charged with assaulting ICE officers with hammer during New Jersey traffic stop
Woke Hollywood Actor Mark Ruffalo Slams Newsom for Opposing California Billionaire Tax: ‘It’s Disqualifying’
Watch: Abdul El-Sayed Has His Hillary Clinton ‘Hot Sauce in Purse’ Moment in Cringey, Pandering Interview
Democrats Plotting to Use Bitter Ex-Girlfriend to Take Down Elon Musk
Trump Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is, Announces He’s Spending $400 Million on ‘Most Important Midterm Elections’ Ever
Judge Trump called a ‘lunatic’ abruptly backs off demand after showdown with DOJ No. 3
Trump says Ilhan Omar could go to jail or be deported, calls her ‘a disgrace to our country’
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.
Alabama governor commutes death sentence as doubts emerge about evidence in murder conviction
University president sounds alarm as nearly half of students justify violence to stop ‘hate speech’
DHS launches nationwide ICE operation targeting illegal immigrants accused of SNAP food stamp fraud
Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for deputy’s murder as state closes in on execution record
Pennsylvania Welfare Supervisor Accused of Stealing Thousands in Food Stamps, Trading Them for Crack Cocaine
Trump Announces New Fraud Bounty Program, Nick Shirley First to Cash In
U2 Singer Bono Attacks Christians and Jews Who Support Ending Government Waste, Shuttering USAID
Husband of Democratic Party Chair Charged with Stealing $20 Million from Federal Education Grants
Honduran illegal immigrant charged with assaulting ICE officers with hammer during New Jersey traffic stop
Woke Hollywood Actor Mark Ruffalo Slams Newsom for Opposing California Billionaire Tax: ‘It’s Disqualifying’
Watch: Abdul El-Sayed Has His Hillary Clinton ‘Hot Sauce in Purse’ Moment in Cringey, Pandering Interview
Democrats Plotting to Use Bitter Ex-Girlfriend to Take Down Elon Musk
Trump Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is, Announces He’s Spending $400 Million on ‘Most Important Midterm Elections’ Ever
Judge Trump called a ‘lunatic’ abruptly backs off demand after showdown with DOJ No. 3
Trump says Ilhan Omar could go to jail or be deported, calls her ‘a disgrace to our country’
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.
