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.

Michigan Democrats in disarray after Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers and gets kicked out of party

Chicago Assailants Picked the Victim, Quickly Discovered He Had a Concealed Carry Permit

Dems Forgot to Price The Loss When It Comes to Green Energy Grid: And Now We’re All Paying for It

DOJ set to appeal ruling in Alaska Senate race dispute over ‘Decoy Dan’

Chief of staff to Haley Stevens resigns after Mike Rogers endorsement

American Defense Innovator Takes the Fight to Beijing’s Electronic Dominance with Ambitious Made-in-America Military Computer

Private jet with 9 people on board crashes just miles from Mar-a-Lago

Breaking: ‘We Can’t Stand with Hasan Piker’ – Michigan Democrat Turns on El-Sayed, Endorses GOP’s Mike Rogers Instead

Judge dismisses DOJ bid to delay Alaska Senate results if Republican loses

Haley Stevens flips endorsement to Mike Rogers after split with el Sayed

Connecticut Dem Sen Chris Murphy hospitalized Saturday for stroke

Shootings near 5 college communities leave 3 dead, at least 29 injured

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.”