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.”
Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate John James skips Vance rally, citing debate prep
Hollywood Mega Producer Admits to Joe Rogan That Once Societies Abandon God, They Turn To Tyranny
Active shooter report at Oregon elementary school draws large police response
‘One of a Kind’ Pastor Serving in Trump Administration Dies at Age 47
Ilhan Omar’s husband snaps over rumors she fled US after federal immigration fraud raid
Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend’s murder after claiming self-defense
Fort Hood survivors praise Trump for scrapping Hasan execution livestream: ‘We’re not barbaric’
British defense secretary to ask Hegseth about Starshield outage as UK tries to ‘bridge’ US and Ukraine ‘back together’
Trump links Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Muslim Brotherhood: ‘He’s a con man’
America’s next war could reach US soil, top Army general warns
WH Investigating Ex-Kennedy Center Head Over Reportedly Missing $5.6 Million Donation – Had Previously Fired Western Journal Founder Over His Faith
DOJ case attacks mass murder fandom culture behind Canadian school shooting
Bill and Hillary Clinton make eleventh-hour midterm moves as party’s old guard faces new reality
Somalis in Minnesota unleash fury on Trump after feds raid Ilhan Omar’s DC home
MS NOW Reporter Offers Hilarious Apology After Fake Reporting: Kash Patel ‘Did Not, in Fact, Land in Russia’
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.
Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate John James skips Vance rally, citing debate prep
Hollywood Mega Producer Admits to Joe Rogan That Once Societies Abandon God, They Turn To Tyranny
Active shooter report at Oregon elementary school draws large police response
‘One of a Kind’ Pastor Serving in Trump Administration Dies at Age 47
Ilhan Omar’s husband snaps over rumors she fled US after federal immigration fraud raid
Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend’s murder after claiming self-defense
Fort Hood survivors praise Trump for scrapping Hasan execution livestream: ‘We’re not barbaric’
British defense secretary to ask Hegseth about Starshield outage as UK tries to ‘bridge’ US and Ukraine ‘back together’
Trump links Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Muslim Brotherhood: ‘He’s a con man’
America’s next war could reach US soil, top Army general warns
WH Investigating Ex-Kennedy Center Head Over Reportedly Missing $5.6 Million Donation – Had Previously Fired Western Journal Founder Over His Faith
DOJ case attacks mass murder fandom culture behind Canadian school shooting
Bill and Hillary Clinton make eleventh-hour midterm moves as party’s old guard faces new reality
Somalis in Minnesota unleash fury on Trump after feds raid Ilhan Omar’s DC home
MS NOW Reporter Offers Hilarious Apology After Fake Reporting: Kash Patel ‘Did Not, in Fact, Land in Russia’
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.
