For a while, it was unclear whether Rockets general manager Daryl Morey would keep his job after tweeting support for Hong Kong protesters, who are trying to maintain and expand their freedom.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta quickly distanced the team from the tweet. The NBA – particularly Houston – was losing money. Even players were complaining about Morey.
Eventually, NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a second statement that included:
Apparently, Silver issued that edict while facing even more pressure than we realized.
Silver, via Sean Gregory of TIME:Silver said the league is “not only willing” to cope with losses of millions in revenues, “but we are. The losses have already been substantial. Our games are not back on the air in China as we speak, and we’ll see what happens next.”
“I don’t know where we go from here,” said Silver in his first U.S. interview about the league’s emerging conflict with China since he returned home from the country. “The financial consequences have been and may continue to be fairly dramatic.”
“I don’t know where we go from here” are scary words. There’s a lot of money to be made in China, and the NBA is a business.
That’s why the decision not to fire or discipline Morey – while commendable – goes only so far.
Many around the NBA fear the ongoing Chinese response. Nobody wants to further harm that economic relationship. Even Morey deleted and walked back his tweet.
This is a consequence of dealing with China. The NBA is still figuring out how to compromise its stated values with its clear financial interests.
At least the answer stopped short of punishing Morey.