You have to hand it to South Park. The show’s reaction and turnaround times are absolutely impressive.
LeBron James found himself at the heart of the Daryl Morey-China-NBA firestorm when he offered a surprising repudiation of Morey’s pro-Hong Kong tweet. LeBron called the Rockets general manager “misinformed” about the consequences of his tweet. The Lakers star then tried to clarify what he meant after Monday’s intense backlash, but he really didn’t make matters any better.
Come Wednesday night, South Park was already prepared to mock LeBron’s weak response to the China saga. It was subtle, but NBA fans knew exactly what the show was doing with Cartman’s dialogue.
The show essentially had Cartman repeat LeBron’s comments on free speech word-for-word. The “they don’t realize it harms people financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually” was an obvious shot at LeBron. Just see LeBron’s comments above for comparison.
South Park mocked the NBA and China earlier this month with a statement ahead of the airing of an episode that satirized Chinese censorship. South Park ended up getting banned in China and scrubbed from the highly restricted Chinese internet as a result of the episode.
