Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
NBA abandons Hong Kong for Communist rule
NBA abandons Hong Kong for Communist rule
Jun 4, 2025 12:08 PM

In this week’s Acton Commentary I discuss the raging controversy between the National Basketball Association, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, and China. Morey’s since deleted tweet expressing solidarity for the protest movement in Hong Kong led to criticism from the the Chinese regime, Chinese firms which sponsor the NBA, and NBA team owners. This led the NBA to distance itself from Morey and his views:

The NBA is now reaping the whirlwind of its failure to heed this warning in the form ofbiting criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. It has now e transparent that the “woke capitalism” of the NBA was little more thanmarketing by other means. It has been frequently said that today’s NBA is one ofunprecedented player empowerment(Paradoxically alsoplayer unhappiness) yet when Houston Rocket’s star James Harden pleads, “We apologize. You know, we love China. We love playing there … ,” it looks like anything but that.

On Tuesday,NBA Commissioner Adam Silversaid he won’t censor players or team owners over statements about China, that the league is motivated by more than money, and that freedom of expression must be protected. But the behavior of the NBA itself, thewords of NBA owners, the struggle session of the league’s most talented GM, and the apology of one of its brightest stars all indicate that the party line is so firmly established that overt censorship may not even be necessary.

This is a rapidly developing story. Since my writing of this week’s Acton Commentary scheduled NBA events in China have been cancelled, many of the NBA’s Chinese partners have cut ties to the league, and Chinese state media and Tencent have suspended broadcastofNBA preseason games inChina. The NBA’s attempts to distance itself from from the protest movement in Hong Kong while not overtly censoring NBA players and personnel were not enough for Chinese state television which stated:

We are strongly dissatisfied and we oppose Silver’s claim to support Morey’s right of free expression. We believe that any speech that challenges national sovereignty and social stability is not within the scope of freedom of speech.

NBA appeasement, struggle sessions, and shameful apologies were not enough to satisfy munist regime in China which demands the NBA essentially e a propaganda outlet which punishes speech critical of the regime.

The appeasement now seems to extend to American sports media as well.Deadspin’s Laura Wagner has reported that ESPN issued a memo forbidding it’s on air staff from discussing Chinese politics:

What you didn’t hear was much discussion about what is actually happening on the ground with protestors in Hong Kong, why they’re protesting, or any other acknowledgment of China’s political situation, past or present.

This could be because Chuck Salituro, the senior news director of ESPN, sent a memo to shows mandating that any discussion of the Daryl Morey story avoid any political discussions about China and Hong Kong, and instead focus on the related basketball issues. The memo, obtained by Deadspin, explicitly discouraged any political discussion about China and Hong Kong. Multiple ESPN sources confirmed to Deadspin that network higher-ups were keeping a close eye on how the topic was discussed on ESPN’s airwaves.

In the case of both the NBA and ESPN we are witnessing a failure of conscience. promised by the pursuit of business interests without moral restraint.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Rev. Robert Sirico: Remembering The Faith of Oscar Romero
The Rev. Robert Sirico, in The Detroit News today, remembers the faith of slain Archbishop Oscar Romero, whom Pope Francis recently declared a martyr. Rev. Sirico recalls his trip to the church where the Salvadoran archbishop was killed. While on a lecture tour of El Salvador about a year ago, I asked my hosts if it were possible to visit the church where Oscar Romero celebrated his last Mass in 1980. The Salvadorian archbishop was assassinated by a government hit...
New Report: Orthodox Monastic Communities in the United States
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America has published a new report on Orthodox Monastic Communities in the United States (here). The report contains a lot of great information (“great” for nerds like me, anyway), including a whole section entitled, “‘Monastic Economy:’ Ownership of Property and Sources of e in US Orthodox Monasteries.” According to the report, In summary, the three mon sources of e in US Orthodox monasteries are: Occasional private donations including bequests and...
5 Things You Should Know About Washington’s Birthday
Today in the United States is the federal holiday known as Washington’s Birthday (not “Presidents Day—see item #1). In honor of George Washington’s birthday, here are 5 things you should know about the day set aside for our America’s founding father. 1. Although some state and local governments and private businesses refer to today as President’s Day, the legal public holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code. The observance of...
Coptic Orthodox Bishop on the Islamic State Mass Murder of Christians in Libya
When asked by the BBC interviewer what he would say to the terrorists if they were sitting in the studio at that moment, the bishop replied: I would say that any religion starts from a premise of a sanctity of life. And no matter what differences there are, this doesn’t justify by any means the taking of a life and especially so horrifically. I pray for them and I pray that somehow hearts are touched. I’m sure that not everyone...
More Than 300 Trafficking Victims Set Free In India
International Justice Mission [IJM] works around the world to bolster rule of law, fight corruption and help human trafficking victims. In India, human trafficking – both sex trafficking and labor trafficking – is rampant. IJM announced that government officials (who had been trained by and working with IJM) were able to free 333 people from labor trafficking at a brick factory last week. They [the trafficking victims] lived in tiny, thatched-roof huts. Each couple was responsible to make 2,000 bricks...
Unemployment Tied to One in Five Suicides
Unemployment is a spiritual problem. When a person loses their job, they’ve lost a means to provide for their family, an important aspect of their human flourishing, and the primary way they serve their neighbors. With the loss in es a loss in meaning. Not surprisingly, unemployment can have long-term negative effects munities, families, and a person’s subjective well-being and self-esteem. The most disturbing effect of unemployment is the despair that can lead people to take their own lives. One...
Would Kuyper go to Mars?
In his otherwise excellent work The Problem of Poverty, the Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper, as a man of his time (the late-nineteenth and early twentieth mended the merits of colonialism as if there were not already people in other lands with their own calling to “till the earth” that God had made. While unfortunate for his time and context, recent events may open up a case in which colonization may be the Christian duty Kuyper believed it to be: Mars....
A Week Of Hellish Religious Persecution
Last week was a nightmarish week. Each day brought forth new violence, visited upon men and women of faith. Attacks against Christians were carried out by both Boko Haram and the Islamic State. Stephen Hicks, a non-believer, shot and killed three young Muslims in North Carolina. Al Qaeda continues to terrorize people in Yemen, and in Copenhagen, a synagogue was the target of a gunman during a bat mitzvah. In November 2012, then-Pope Benedict XVI spoke to members of INTERPOL...
African Bishop: ‘Our Values Are Not For Sale’
Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria and newly appointed Chairman of Communications for the African bishops, has some strong words for the West. Bishop Badejo believes help for Nigeria in fighting Boko Haram has been withheld because of Nigerians refusal to accept population control tactics from the Western world. In a lengthy interview given in Rome, Badejo discusses his thoughts the Nigerian government, Boko Haram and Western policies and values. In Yorubaland, human dignity and human life are sacred. Christianity...
Battlefield Entrepreneurs: The Secret of Israeli Innovation?
Over the past 60+ years, Israel has emerged as an economic powerhouse despite all odds. With only 7.1 million people, no natural resources, and surrounded by enemies and constant threats, it has somehow managed to attract nearly $2 billion in venture capital. It produces more panies than large countries like Japan, India, Korea, and the United Kingdom, and has panies on the NASDAQ than any country other the United States. Given its range of challenges, how can this be? In...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved