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.

Breaking: Deadly Amazon Cargo Plane Crash at Miami Airport Leaves 5 Dead

Amy Acton campaign says armed individual lunged at Ohio governor candidate, injuring multiple people

Hasan Piker brushes off Dems who see him as a liability, names his ’28 choice

Stray bullet from nearby lounge fight kills Frito-Lay worker inside Sam’s Club

After ‘Lake America,’ Trump suggests a new name for the state of New Mexico

Amazon cargo plane overruns Miami airport runway, striking ‘multiple’ vehicles and catching fire

Trump admin’s mail-in ballot fight lands back at Supreme Court

Sanders pushes ‘death penalty’ for crucial US industry that could give advantage to foreign adversaries

Mamdani under fire after symbolic 9/11 pen goes to former al Qaeda defense lawyer

Tragedy Shuts Down Christian Music Festival: Pastor Killed By High Winds and Collapsing Sign

While the Media Panics Over AI, Prisons Use It to Stop Rapes, Fights, and $200M Headcounts

X Caught a 200K-Account Chinese Bot Farm Pushing Panic Over AI Data Centers

Chinese Police Dragged a Pastor Away: Now He’s Spreading the Gospel Through the Prison System

Trump Sends Warning to Lindsay Clancy Following Mistrial: ‘You’ll Find Out What the Price to Pay Is’

Literal Goosebumps: This Passage About Jesus Was Written by a Non-Christian in 91 AD – Listen and You’ll Get Chills

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.”