NBA commissioner speaks amid criticism from ChinaRockets GM earlier expressed support for Hong Kong protestsChinese broadcaster cancels showing of games as row escalatesThe NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, said the league is not apologizing for Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s since-deleted tweet showing support for anti-government
protesters in Hong Kong, even after China’s state broadcaster canceled plans to show a pair of preseason games in that country later this week.
Silver, speaking on Tuesday at a news conference in Tokyo before a preseason game between the Rockets and the
Toronto Raptors, went as far as to say that he and the league are “apologetic” that so many Chinese officials and fans were upset by Morey’s tweet but insisted that the executive has the right to freedom of expression. The NBA has also received criticism from US politicians. Senator Ted Cruz said the league was guilty of “assisting Chinese censorship” by initially saying it was “regrettable” that Morey’s tweet had caused offence in China.