Ted Cruz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Demand NBA to Suspend China Activities Over Boycott

Washington (AFP) – A bipartisan set of US lawmakers urged the NBA on Wednesday to suspend all activities in China until Chinese firms and broadcasters end their boycott of the league and the Houston Rockets.

The open letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver came from eight US lawmakers as politically diverse as Ted Cruz of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, both from states with multiple NBA teams.

“You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government’s targets and should have the courage and integrity to use it,” the letter said.

“It’s not unreasonable to expect American companies to put our fundamental democratic rights ahead of profit.”

The letter comes in the wake of a since-deleted tweet from Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

That prompted the Chinese government to end sponsorships for the team and league and drop planned NBA telecasts in China, huge NBA logos and banner being stripped off buildings a sign of the anger.

California couple says moving company doubled their price and is now holding belongings ‘for ransom’: report

USPS worker arrested after alleged mass shooting threat against Texas Pride event, FBI says

Beloved Star, Outspoken Christian Kelsey Grammer Mulling Run for Office

JD Vance Explains How Leftist Motto Is ‘a Disgusting Butchering of the Nicene Creed’

Five countries in Latin America have elected pro-Trump governments since his election

Bar complaint accuses Biden-appointed district judge of dishonesty during DOJ tenure

Lawmakers press Eli Lilly for China drug trials tied to military-linked hospitals

Dems join Republicans to crush Tlaib’s war powers resolution in lopsided House vote

Trump Floats Plan to ‘Reverse Birthright Citizenship’ in Spite of the Supreme Court

MKUltra hearing turns into intense grilling of NIH researcher about the origins of COVID-19

NPR Retracts Bombshell Story About Supreme Court Justice Retiring

Shock poll: Talarico ties Paxton in Texas Senate race, threatening GOP stronghold

GOP infighting over Trump’s voter ID bill erupts as top senator calls strategy ‘fantasy’

CA Neighbors Furious as Alleged Anti-Trump HOA Gets Ultimate Revenge in Lead Up to July 4

Priceless Video: ICE Guards Have to Protect Rioters from Female Employee Raging After They Hit Her Car

After early NBA statements were seen as overly capitulating, Silver said, “I understand there are consequences from … his freedom of speech. We will have to live with those consequences. As a league, we’re not willing to compromise those values.”

The full cost might not be known for months, with the NBA having made lucrative deals to a nation of 1.4 billion that loves basketball. But the lawmakers demanded values win over profits.

“Equivocating when profits are at stake is a betrayal of fundamental American values,” the lawmakers wrote. “That you have more potential fans in China than in Hong Kong is no excuse for bending over backwards to express ‘sensitivity’ only to one side.”

Lawmakers urged Silver to take four steps to harden the NBA’s stance against China’s retaliatory moves, most notably shutting down NBA activities in China, where two pre-season exhibition games were slated to be played.

“The NBA should have anticipated the challenges of doing business in a country run by a repressive single party government, including by being prepared to stand in strong defense of the freedom of expression of its employees, players, and affiliates across the globe,” the lawmakers wrote.

They also pushed for an end to punishments to the Rockets, saying the NBA must be united against “future efforts by Chinese government-controlled entities to single out individual teams, players, or associates for boycotts or selective treatment.”