The reactions to the NBA’s “disgusting” support of the oppressive Chinese government continues to grow, as a diverse group of Americans take the woke sports league to task for supporting China over pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The controversy kicked off when over the weekend the NBA rebuked Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for a tweet reading, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” in which he came to the side of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The NBA quickly moved to rebuke Morey for his tweet for upsetting the Chinese government. Just as quickly, Morey deleted his tweet and apologized.
Not only did the NBA clamor to side with the human rights-abusing Chinese government, but, worse, the league’s press release in China was more effusive in abject apology than its statement in the U.S. press:
But not everyone felt that Morey needed to apologize. Both Republicans and Democrats have jumped to criticize the NBA for its support of China over the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, for instance, called the NBA’s reaction “disgusting” and added that it was “grotesque” for the league to punish a U.S. citizen just to “protect the NBA’s market in China.”
Rubio was not the only Republican to slam the NBA for its slobbering support of oppressive China. Others, including Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Rick Scott, and others joined Rubio in criticizing the league.
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse joined those slamming the NBA, and said that the league’s greed for Chinese cash caused it to support a nation with one of the worst human rights records in the world.
The Republicans were not alone. A growing list of Democrats also took the NBA to task for its support of China over the pro-democracy movement:
But politicians were far from the only detractors of the NBA’s kow tow to China. Many others, both liberal and conservative, were also horrified by the NBA’s cash grabbing:
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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