NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he told Chinese government and business partners “no chance” when they asked for Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey to be fired after his now infamous tweet supporting a Hong Kong protest movement.
Silver spoke Thursday at the inaugural Time 100 Health Summit in New York City, which was Silver’s first public appearance since returning to the United States from China earlier this week. The commissioner was in China in the immediate aftermath of Morey’s tweet, since the NBA had previously scheduled preseason games in Shanghai featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets:
Regarding Morey, Silver said:
We made clear that we were being asked to fire him, by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business. We said there’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him.
These American values — we are an American business — travel with us wherever we go. And one of those values is free expression. We wanted to make sure that everyone understood we were supporting free expression.
In all, the fallout could cost the Rockets between $10 million and $25 million due to the backlash, according to a Houston Chronicle report. Other NBA teams are also feeling effects. Without going into specifics, Silver said Thursday that the financial consequences to date for the league are “substantial” and “fairly dramatic.”
Rockets’ players and coaches downplayed the controversy upon arriving back in the United States this week, saying they’re focused exclusively on basketball and the season ahead. Houston’s regular season starts next week on Thursday, Oct. 24 versus Milwaukee.
