The game will go on, but the players involved in it nor the commissioner of the league will be speaking before or after it happens. At least while the NBA is still in China.
The Los Angeles Lakers will continue their preseason schedule in just a few hours, as they are set to take on the Brooklyn Nets at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. However, unlike your usual NBA basketball game, we will not be hearing from the participants in Thursday’s preseason matchup. The NBA, according to multiple reports on the scene in Shanghai, will not speak to the media. The Chinese government canceled both NBA Cares events scheduled for earlier this week.
So, unlike the NBA’s two games in Japan which featured press conferences from commissioner Adam Silver, this one will have no media access at all. This is obviously to avoid potential questions to LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and others about the NBA’s current situation in China that was sparked by Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet of support for protestors in Hong Kong.
While the game will not be televised nationally in China, the game is set to be carried in the United States on NBA TV at 4:30 a.m. PDT.
