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.”
How millions of illegal immigrants got jobs in the US
Bombshell report alleges Biden team forced airports to house migrants, risking safety
Illegal immigrant who stole DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci bag pleads guilty, faces deportation
Sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric led to 1,150% surge in violence against ICE agents: DHS
Deep Dive: Just What Are These ‘Illegal’ Orders Dems Want the Military to Disobey? Here They Are, And They’re Anything but Illegal
Bondi targets James Comey, Letitia James in legal battle: ‘hold…accountable for unlawful conduct’
DOJ renews fight for Epstein and Maxwell grand jury records
WNBA Star Admits That Elite 8th Graders Could ‘Probably’ Beat WNBA Players
DOJ files motion to unseal Epstein docs in latest step toward release
White House Delays Rollout of Healthcare Proposal After Getting Significant Backlash: Report
JD Vance Shreds Mitch McConnell Over ‘Ridiculous Attack on the President’s Team’
Portland protester accused of threatening to kill officers, sexually assault their wives at ICE facility
NYC suburb makes major security move by city border after Mamdani victory: ‘Talks like he’s pro-criminal’
Trump signs executive order targeting certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist groups
Trump launches ‘Genesis Mission’ to supercharge US scientific AI innovation
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.
How millions of illegal immigrants got jobs in the US
Bombshell report alleges Biden team forced airports to house migrants, risking safety
Illegal immigrant who stole DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci bag pleads guilty, faces deportation
Sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric led to 1,150% surge in violence against ICE agents: DHS
Deep Dive: Just What Are These ‘Illegal’ Orders Dems Want the Military to Disobey? Here They Are, And They’re Anything but Illegal
Bondi targets James Comey, Letitia James in legal battle: ‘hold…accountable for unlawful conduct’
DOJ renews fight for Epstein and Maxwell grand jury records
WNBA Star Admits That Elite 8th Graders Could ‘Probably’ Beat WNBA Players
DOJ files motion to unseal Epstein docs in latest step toward release
White House Delays Rollout of Healthcare Proposal After Getting Significant Backlash: Report
JD Vance Shreds Mitch McConnell Over ‘Ridiculous Attack on the President’s Team’
Portland protester accused of threatening to kill officers, sexually assault their wives at ICE facility
NYC suburb makes major security move by city border after Mamdani victory: ‘Talks like he’s pro-criminal’
Trump signs executive order targeting certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist groups
Trump launches ‘Genesis Mission’ to supercharge US scientific AI innovation
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.
