In October of 2019, then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, tweeted an image with the caption, “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” The tweet sparked outrage from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and left Morey fearing for his job. 

“In the last 12 months, I had moments where I thought I might never work in the NBA again, for reasons I was willing to go down for,” Morey recently told ESPN. The National Basketball Association is notorious for its business dealings with China. If the NBA were to take a stand against the concentration camps, forced labor, or the censorship, then they would lose tons of money. 

Sadly, that’s not a risk they’re willing to take.

Among those criticizing Morey was NBA legend LeBron James. 

“I don’t want to get into a feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke,” James said.  “So many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So, just be careful what we tweet and say and what we do even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech there can be a lot of negatives that comes with that too.”

The tweet prompted a statement from the greedy NBA, calling his post “regrettable” and apologizing that Morey “deeply offended” Chinese citizens and assured his views of freedom did “not represent the Rockets or the NBA.”

Sheesh. Let’s be glad the commissioner Adam Silver isn’t in charge of our country’s foreign relations. 

Morey also offered a statement. “I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event,” he tweeted. “I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives. I have always appreciated the significant support our Chinese fans and sponsors have provided and I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or misunderstanding them was not my intention. My tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA.”

Morey received threats from supporters of the CCP, which caused him to fear for the safety of himself and his family. “I was extremely concerned. You don’t want the second-most powerful government on Earth mad at you, if you can avoid it. In this case, I couldn’t,” he told ESPN.

However last week when ESPN asked Morey if he regretted the tweet, he responded by saying, “I’m very comfortable with what I did.” 

Now Morey is working as the president of basketball operations of the Philadelphia 76ers. I’m just surprised the NBA allows the Sixers to exist. Talking about nations gaining Independence from oppressors crosses the line, right?


Hat Tip: Daily Wire, ESPN

Image Credit: Wikipedia

About The Author

Mark was a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and served as the national coordinator. He left the organization to work more broadly on expanding the self-governance movement beyond the partisan divide. Mark appears regularly on television in outlets as diverse as MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC. He’s highly sought after for the tea party perspective from print and electronic media outlets, from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Examiner, Politico and the The Hill. Mark blogs at MarkMeckler.com, and his opinion editorials regularly run in many of the leading political newspapers both on and offline. Mark has a BA in English from San Diego State University and graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1988. He practiced real estate and business law for almost a decade. For the last eleven years of his legal career he specialized in Internet advertising law. When not fighting for the future of our nation, Mark is an avid horseman, and lives in rural northern California with his wife Patty and two children.