Morey Kolber, Ph.D.,
C.S.C.S., was one of those casualties.
Morey posted a tweet Friday night that said,“Fight for Freedom.
Morey's wrong remarks do not respect China's sovereignty
and national dignity.
Morey apologized on Sunday, tweeting that he was"merely voicing
one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event.".
And in this case, Daryl Morey, as general manager of the Houston Rockets, enjoys that right as one of our employees.
And in this case, Daryl Morey, as the general manager of the Houston Rockets, enjoys that right as one of our employees.
Morey also quickly deleted his post and apologized on Sunday, tweeting
that he was“merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event.”.
The problems between the NBA and
China began after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet last week that showed
support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
The backlash in China to a tweet from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting Hong Kong protesters has
accelerated over the weekend, now to include formal consequences.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta sort of clumsily tried to distance his
team from Morey's tweet later that night, and Morey deleted it overnight, but the damage has apparently been done.
Morey Belanger, a six-year-old girl with a hearing loss, was the inspiration
for around 160 students, teachers and staff at the Dayton Consolidated School in Maine, USA, to decide to learn sign.
The Ringer reports that Morey's employment with the Houston Rockets is currently up in the air
and he could be replaced for costing the league a lot of money, given that they have recently sign a $1.5 billion streaming deal with China.
The fact that Morey even needs a vote of confidence from his owner over a
single tweet demonstrates both the outsized importance of China as a growth opportunity for the NBA, and the power that the Chinese government wields to kneecap a team or even an entire league over something as benign as a relatively innocent endorsement of civil liberties, from a non-political figure based in the other hemisphere.