Out of anger over supporting remarks for the protest movement in Hong Kong, China has stopped broadcasting some NBA games. As the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV announced on Tuesday, he will refrain from showing in China played preseason games of the American basketball league.
"The CCTV sports channel has decided not to follow the plans to broadcast the NBA China Games, and it is rethinking all cooperation and communication with the NBA," it said in a statement. The Los Angeles Lakers and superstar LeBron James and the Brooklyn Nets compete against each other twice in China on Thursday and Saturday.
This was preceded by a wave of outrage in China over remarks by Daryl Morey, manager of US basketball team Houston Rockets. Morey posted a picture on Twitter titled "Fight for Freedom - Stand with Hong Kong" - Fight for Freedom, supporting Hong Kong. As a result, the Chinese Basketball Association immediately ended cooperation with the NBA team.
Rockets superstar James Harden then felt compelled to ask for forgiveness. "We apologize, we love China," Harden said on the sidelines of two Rockets' Tokyo preparatory games.
Effect did not show the statement. Nor is Morey bouncing back from the Far East in the face of the wave of indignation and apologizing to China's hugely popular NBA. Now, many Chinese celebrities announced their intention to boycott the duels between the Lakers and the Nets. A cancellation of the games is probably not an issue.
CCTV justified his decision with the fact that also NBA commissioner Adam silver manager Morey jumped aside. "We express our strong dissatisfaction and rejection of Adam Silver," says the channel's message.
The Houston Rockets have since 2002 a large fan base in China. At that time, the club engaged the Chinese basketball idol Yao Ming, now president of the national association. Basketball is an extremely popular sport in China anyway. Millions of Chinese fans follow the NBA.
