The now-deleted tweet was just seven words: "Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong."
With that, Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, on Oct. 4 plunged the National Basketball Association into still-unfolding turmoil as it wrestles with two conflicting forces in its business and public relations identity. The NBA is trying to to maintain the lucrative business ties with China while upholding its commitment to civil liberties and freedom of speech.
Morey was referring to the Hong Kong protests, which began in June. Protesters objected to a bill amendment to allow extradition of certain criminal suspects to mainland China, saying that threatened the city's autonomy and would make its citizens vulnerable to unfair trials.
But the NBA has billions of dollars on the line in tapping a country with 1.4 billion people and a basketball audience estimated to be between 500 and 650 million fans.
Although the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets still played a preseason game Saturday in Shenzhen, 20 miles from Hong Kong, the NBA's presence in China is still in recovery, with lingering acrimony and a muzzle on NBA players to keep them from talking about the matter. But the NBA's troubles have brought to light the perils of ties with China � political censorship � and one of the reasons driving Hong Kongers to the streets.
"China will continue to use its soft power to oppress the freedom of speech around the world," said Ken Chan, core member of the Northern California Hong Kong Club, an organization established in 2011 to promote democracy and political progress in China and Hong Kong. "Companies have to reconsider how they defend their core values."
Jose Ng, a "Stand with Hong Kong" rally organizer in San Francisco, said the controversy highlights Hong Konger's daily experiences in the city's deteriorating freedoms.
"This is the pressure Hong Kongers is facing every single day, not only the reporters, but everyone," he said. "Companies in the U.S. that enjoy the rights to freedom of speech now have to sell their souls for business interests, so imagine what Hong Kongers are facing right now."
Ng cited the example of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong flagship that reportedly fired dozens of employees after outlawing staff members from joining rallies deemed illegal by authorities in late September, according to CNN.
Hong Kong is a former British colony returned to China in 1997 with the promise of "one country, two systems." This enables the special administrative region to enjoy a high degree of self-autonomy until 2047. It operates its own independent judiciary system.
Ng said the controversy sheds light for the U.S. on the Hong Kong's struggle.
The NBA controversy is just the tip of an iceberg, however, Chan said. He cited the example of how Apple removed the HKMAP.LIVE app, used by protesters to track police activity, a day after a Chinese state-run newspaper called the app "toxic." Marriott, the Gap and other businesses have had to apologize after run-ins with China.
The NBA didn't apologize, but Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Rockets, said Morey didn't speak for the team, which has a long-standing history with China, dating back to drafting Yao Ming No. 1 in the 2002 draft. Rockets star James Harden, though, did apologize. "We apologize," Mr. Harden said. "We love China."
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement saying he "won't regulate what players, employees or team owners say or will not say on different issues." But over the past week, the NBA, seen as a progressive sports entity in encouraging its players and personnel to speak up, has been forced to reckon with the fallout and tone it down.
