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The NBA and China (1 Viewer)

timschochet

Footballguy
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/business/nba-china-hong-kong-explainer/index.html

all of the well-deserved attention to the two Trump stories (impeachment and Turkey invading Syria) has left little attention for this issue, and it deserves discussion. Should NBA players and coaches have stuck up more for this Houston assistant coach who dared to criticize China for what’s happening in Hong Kong? Are players like LeBron behaving cowardly because they don’t want to lose millions of dollars? Thoughts? 

 
LeBron likes money more.
LeBron is a supposed liberal who has been a big critic of President Trump. One of the main criticisms against Trump is that he is transactional, indifferent to the evils of other world leaders so long as they provide a benefit- for example, excusing the murder of Khashoggi. 

How can LeBron make that argument and pull this crap at the same time? What’s the difference? 

 
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/business/nba-china-hong-kong-explainer/index.html

all of the well-deserved attention to the two Trump stories (impeachment and Turkey invading Syria) has left little attention for this issue, and it deserves discussion. Should NBA players and coaches have stuck up more for this Houston assistant coach who dared to criticize China for what’s happening in Hong Kong? Are players like LeBron behaving cowardly because they don’t want to lose millions of dollars? Thoughts? 
Morey is the Rocket’s GM.  

NBA looks bad here.  Shoes are made in sweatshops in China and it’s a huge market for the NBA.   They don’t want to harm the Golden Goose.  

Lots of hypocrisy being exposed here as formally socially conscious players on issues in our country don’t want to comment about China. 

 
Lebron knows where the NBA money comes from. I think it looks bad for Lebron that he sees money before civil rights. We’ll see how his reaction gets played out but we’re at a time in history that my generation has not had to deal with where many people don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them today without looking towards tomorrow’s dinner. 
Is this mentality a microcosm of our time or are more of us thinking, “I got mine, I’m good.” Is our world better off with a, “dog eats dog world,” or where we stand up for injustices even if it hurts our selves?

 
Morey is the Rocket’s GM.  

NBA looks bad here.  Shoes are made in sweatshops in China and it’s a huge market for the NBA.   They don’t want to harm the Golden Goose.  

Lots of hypocrisy being exposed here as formally socially conscious players on issues in our country don’t want to comment about China. 
I almost always disagree with you but here I think you’re exactly right. It is terribly hypocritical. There’s no way around it. 

 
This tweet from MLK day 2018 from James has surfaced:
"Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere- Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter- #ThankYouMLK50"

His defense:  "Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that."

Seems weak to me. Is it okay to stay silent when considering financial consequences?

 
I haven’t been a fan of the NBA for a long time but if more players come out with Lebron type comments. Well, I’m glad I’m not a fan. Same goes for the MLB, NFL, NHL, whatever. 

 
And the thing is, as some sports people have pointed out, China is likely bluffing anyhow. They need the NBA as much as the NBA needs them. It’s incredibly popular over there. If the players and league had stuck behind their guy, I think China would have backed down. 

 
This tweet from MLK day 2018 from James has surfaced:
"Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere- Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter- #ThankYouMLK50"

His defense:  "Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that."

Seems weak to me. Is it okay to stay silent when considering financial consequences?
His tweet after that was far more pathetic:
 

LeBron James

@KingJames

·

9h

My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
The protestors had a tough week too....poor guy.

 
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Lebron is a sell out in this instance.  He sold out for more than most, but he sold out.  We all have our hypocrisies, I suppose.  He is not unique in his.

 
“A difficult week”. That’s awful. 

Multimillionaire basketball stars don’t like to answer unpleasant questions, so that’s a “difficult week” for them. Meanwhile people in HK are rightfully concerned with losing what’s left of their liberty. 

 
I don't understand what he's referring to with waiting a week after a bad week? Or does he mean the Morley tweet caused the bad week in which case I still don't get waiting a week.

And how does he have a clue as to what Morley did or did not consider?
 

 
And the thing is, as some sports people have pointed out, China is likely bluffing anyhow. They need the NBA as much as the NBA needs them. It’s incredibly popular over there. If the players and league had stuck behind their guy, I think China would have backed down. 
I don't think so.  they took the long view on Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan.  they took the long view on Taiwan and then the Brits getting out of Hong Kong.  They were patient in building their military and economy.  I think they would have weathered the matter nicely.  Its not like they don't have basketball there.  I don't see them backing down and I do see them forebearing through unpleasantness.

 
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/business/nba-china-hong-kong-explainer/index.html

all of the well-deserved attention to the two Trump stories (impeachment and Turkey invading Syria) has left little attention for this issue, and it deserves discussion. Should NBA players and coaches have stuck up more for this Houston assistant coach who dared to criticize China for what’s happening in Hong Kong? Are players like LeBron behaving cowardly because they don’t want to lose millions of dollars? Thoughts? 
I was disappointed in the response of LeBron, Kerr and Pop.  These is the same as Jordan talking about Republicans buying shoes except in this case it's freaking China and sweatshops they are trying to protect.

 
I don't understand what he's referring to with waiting a week after a bad week? Or does he mean the Morley tweet caused the bad week in which case I still don't get waiting a week.

And how does he have a clue as to what Morley did or did not consider?
 
I'm guessing he means because he and the Lakers were in China last week? 

 
It is definitely a cowardly move by Lebron in particular, but another thing I think is lost by people in understanding the calculus here is that it wasn't just Lebron's money on the line. I'm not aware of the specifics at the moment and I'm about to head into work, but I'm pretty certain that every player in the league gets a payout from a giant slush fund of general "NBA revenue" -- someone was doing the numbers on Reddit and determined that a potential loss of China revenue for the upcoming season would have dramatically cut the pay of all NBA players from that slush fund, which hits the league minimum guys by far the worst. It is incredibly ####ty and hypocritical, but, IMO, they're mostly just looking out for the guys in their union.

 
I don't think so.  they took the long view on Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan.  they took the long view on Taiwan and then the Brits getting out of Hong Kong.  They were patient in building their military and economy.  I think they would have weathered the matter nicely.  Its not like they don't have basketball there.  I don't see them backing down and I do see them forebearing through unpleasantness.
Not so easy for China to take the long view anymore with regard to public opinion in their own nation. They’re now a country of consumers. And their consumers want NBA. 

 
I don't understand what he's referring to with waiting a week after a bad week? Or does he mean the Morley tweet caused the bad week in which case I still don't get waiting a week.

And how does he have a clue as to what Morley did or did not consider?
 
Morey tweeted it right before several NBA teams were set to travel to China for some preseason games. The NBA/Adam Silver also didn't really address the issue aside from a blanket non-statement statement and sort of left the players out to dry in terms of being forced to represent the entire NBA and its stance on the issue. I think that's what he's referring to.

 
In a sense this entire issue is a microcosm of our attitude toward China since 1973. We’ve basically turned a blind eye to their crimes so that we could make money. We told ourselves “open them up to capitalism, and freedom will inevitably follow.” Well, nearly 50 years and it hasn’t happened yet. Will it ever happen? 

 
Thanks, guys. So, no repercussions until after they got to play their games. But then I still have no sympathy for complaining about a "difficult week". Poor guy.  :violin:

 

 
Not so easy for China to take the long view anymore with regard to public opinion in their own nation. They’re now a country of consumers. And their consumers want NBA. 
Right. The NBA has leverage here. They don't need to capitulate to everything China wants. 

Silver needs to use it.

 
Right. The NBA has leverage here. They don't need to capitulate to everything China wants. 

Silver needs to use it.
I agree but I also think it’s not up to Silver or the NBA to be running American foreign policy. This is really something that the State Department should be dealing with. Unfortunately, they may not be up to it at the present time...

 
Figured LeBron would have a much better response prepped and ready to fire out. This is what they came up with after 2 weeks. Ooof

Really bad.

 
Right. The NBA has leverage here. They don't need to capitulate to everything China wants. 

Silver needs to use it.
You think? Need to look into it more but can’t China tell the NBA to piss off. LeBron wants to sell his crap there, promote Space Jam 2. 

 
You think? Need to look into it more but can’t China tell the NBA to piss off. LeBron wants to sell his crap there, promote Space Jam 2. 
They could, but it probably isn't worth their while in terms of angering their populace. The NBA/basketball is huge in China. I saw an article stating that over 500 million Chinese citizens watched at least one NBA game last season.

Tencent, the massive Chinese media giant that also has the broadcast rights to the NBA in China, announced they were dropping all NBA preseason games from their service. One can debate whether the NBA's tiptoeing strategy is a primary or secondary cause, but that Tencent NBA blackout was quietly ended after only 6 days (and was never announced to include real games). No doubt there was lots of internal pressure to bring NBA basketball back to Chinese consumers.

 
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How much money does China actually mean to the NBA?

I learned long ago to look more at what people do than what they say.

The NBA and it's players are behaving as if they are out of business unless they bow to China. It just doesn't make sense. 

https://www.axios.com/lebron-morey-china-hong-kong-tweet-rockets-cfdecea8-0b35-443b-8b16-a9a6e47d3b2a.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiossports&stream=top
After the initial Tencent blackout was announced, there was some reporting that NBA teams were prepping for a "doomsday scenario" where the the NBA was locked out of the Chinese market. The NBA salary cap is tied to league revenues and has gone up significantly in the last few years with increased popularity at home and abroad. The cap was projected to raise to ~120m next season. If the doomsday scenario happened, the teams were preparing for the cap to drop 15% from the current level, rather than go up. If that were to happen, a number of teams would be very screwed, as the nature of NBA contracts (fully guaranteed, with max contracts tied to the salary cap level as of signing) would have ensured that they would be unable to field a regular 15 man roster without going heavily into the luxury tax. 

 
After the initial Tencent blackout was announced, there was some reporting that NBA teams were prepping for a "doomsday scenario" where the the NBA was locked out of the Chinese market. The NBA salary cap is tied to league revenues and has gone up significantly in the last few years with increased popularity at home and abroad. The cap was projected to raise to ~120m next season. If the doomsday scenario happened, the teams were preparing for the cap to drop 15% from the current level, rather than go up. If that were to happen, a number of teams would be very screwed, as the nature of NBA contracts (fully guaranteed, with max contracts tied to the salary cap level as of signing) would have ensured that they would be unable to field a regular 15 man roster without going heavily into the luxury tax. 
I found this too https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-nba-teams-planning-for-scenario-in-which-salary-cap-would-drop-due-to-situation-with-china-003037770.html

Looks like they're saying the same - considering a possible 10-15% reduction in salary cap in a negative scenario.

Just seems amazing to me.

The league and players have to see how hypocritical this looks, don't they?

 
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“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” -Colin Kaepernick.

An even more amazing quote when you look at LeBron

 
As a general rule, I think it's unfair to expect NBA players to be well informed about matters of international politics. If they fail to speak out against injustices in Hong Kong, I don't hold that against them at all.

But when they do choose to affirmatively speak on the matter ... I'll just say that this is a bad look for Lebron.

 
I was disappointed in the response of LeBron, Kerr and Pop.  These is the same as Jordan talking about Republicans buying shoes except in this case it's freaking China and sweatshops they are trying to protect.
I was disappointed in Kerr not being a bit more vocal but I see a distinction between his response or more lack of one than what LeBron did. Kerr never called out Morey or said he was wrong. He mostly just said it was a complicated issue and he continues to read up on it. I prefer people to speak up on issues they are informed on then just blindly condemn things. 

LeBron just sounds tone deaf. Attacking someone for being uninformed when you yourself is uninformed isn't smart.

 
I admit I was wrong in my calculation of the NBA players and coaches who have spoke out politically before.  I thought guys like Pop, Kerr, Lebron, etc. were just left leaning ideologically and politically outspoken.  It's become obvious now that it's more about the money and that their stances toward the left, such as with the All Star Game in Charlotte were to play to what they perceived as a left leaning fan base.  I think they're right in that assumption that NBA fans across the major sports probably are the most liberal from the data I've seen.  It worked for them in that circumstance.  However, these statements on China can't be made by someone who is speaking just left politically, I'm not on the left but don't see people there as anti Hong Kong or pro China.  This is about money, sneakers, endorsements, etc.  That doesn't mean the guys who have spoke out don't lean left politically, but when they speak publicly from now on it's pretty obvious it's not about a political argument, but a financial situation.  People used to criticize Michael Jordan for not speaking out politically, but his silence is way less self serving than twisting to where the dollars go.  They have their own self interest and that's fine, they just don't need to be surprised down the road when people view things they say through that lens.

 
I just wish entertainers would entertain.  All entertainers.  I dont think (I hope at least) people dont put much weight in their words.  They should be silent on all issues.  It only hurts them when they open their mouths.  Just play basketball and if asked say something like, "Look Im a (insert whatever entertainment you provide), my job is to entertain.  Of course i have opinions but I choose to keep them to myself".  "now go buy my shoes'.

 
I admit I was wrong in my calculation of the NBA players and coaches who have spoke out politically before.  I thought guys like Pop, Kerr, Lebron, etc. were just left leaning ideologically and politically outspoken.  It's become obvious now that it's more about the money and that their stances toward the left, such as with the All Star Game in Charlotte were to play to what they perceived as a left leaning fan base.  I think they're right in that assumption that NBA fans across the major sports probably are the most liberal from the data I've seen.  It worked for them in that circumstance.  However, these statements on China can't be made by someone who is speaking just left politically, I'm not on the left but don't see people there as anti Hong Kong or pro China.  This is about money, sneakers, endorsements, etc.  That doesn't mean the guys who have spoke out don't lean left politically, but when they speak publicly from now on it's pretty obvious it's not about a political argument, but a financial situation.  People used to criticize Michael Jordan for not speaking out politically, but his silence is way less self serving than twisting to where the dollars go.  They have their own self interest and that's fine, they just don't need to be surprised down the road when people view things they say through that lens.
I don’t agree with this. I think that there is a difference, for many people, between perceived injustice in the USA and perceived injustice outside of the USA, and that plays a big part. 

 
I just wish entertainers would entertain.  All entertainers.  I dont think (I hope at least) people dont put much weight in their words.  They should be silent on all issues.  It only hurts them when they open their mouths.  Just play basketball and if asked say something like, "Look Im a (insert whatever entertainment you provide), my job is to entertain.  Of course i have opinions but I choose to keep them to myself".  "now go buy my shoes'.
I strongly disagree with this. With great power comes great responsibility. - Stan Lee

 
I just wish entertainers would entertain.  All entertainers.  I dont think (I hope at least) people dont put much weight in their words.  They should be silent on all issues.  It only hurts them when they open their mouths.  Just play basketball and if asked say something like, "Look Im a (insert whatever entertainment you provide), my job is to entertain.  Of course i have opinions but I choose to keep them to myself".  "now go buy my shoes'.
If an entertainer wants to use their platform for issues, they should be entitled to. But they are also going to face the potential backlash from it. You want to piss off 40% of the country, go for it. 

But I never understood the stay in your lanes idea. I mean what makes Laura Ingraham or Sean Hannity any more qualified to comment on the things they do? They regularly spout off about stuff they don't know about or provide their opinion on things.

Unless you think entertainers, to use your word, like Hannity and Ingraham should also shut up and just try to sell us their shoes. Then I could probably get behind that. 

 

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