With China rift ongoing, NBA commissioner says league will support freedom of speech

Of course the Chinazi are upset. They don't like it when their authority is questioned.

Hopefully though, Winnie the Pooh is huffing and puffing as we speak!

"We're strongly dissatisfied and oppose Adam Silver's claim to support Morey's right to freedom of expression," CCTV said in a statement. "We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."

I dont know why, but I bust out laughing when I read this comment! Once again China thinking it can control the thoughts and speech of people half a world away!

How vested is the investment of the NBA in China? Sure China is a huge market but then again if any entity can say "so be it" to China, it would be the NBA.

"We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."

Here in the USA it is the very essence of our freedom.

The Chinese have a long memory.

Divisive comments from foreigners will not be tolerated.

"We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."

Freedom of speech - just watch what you say.

LeBron the social justice warrior is awfully quiet now. I guess social justice only matters when it does not cost you Chinese endorsements...

It's good to see somebody taking the highroad for a change. The NBA might lose financially in the short term, but it'll gain more in the long run.

Way to go commissioner!

LeBron the social justice warrior is awfully quiet now. I guess social justice only matters when it does not cost you Chinese endorsements...

Bang on. James Harden's apology lol. Virtue signaling hypocrites & frauds, zero credibility.

You already have the freedom of speech. Now go after the money

meh communist controlled floutrage. Ignore them, they don't deserve a good game.

Fine. No basketball for you! American athletes, both male and female, are some of the most outspoken people in the world. If you can't stand the heat, the kitchen will be taken away from you.

Stay in your lane, China. Can't control the rest of the world like you do at home. Don't show the games and guess what? The league and the world goes on without you. Swish.

China is interesting and getting more and more brazen by the day. This isn't going away anytime soon. This is heading towards a Cold War and a very long one at that. Silver should know that the CCP controls everything in China and it wouldn't be long before China played this hand. The CCP tries to weaponize everything without actually resorting to violence - provided, of course, that the CCP thinks it can 'win'. Otherwise, they whine like the little brats that they truly are.

NBA has long survived without china. It will continue to survive without china. Let the communist dictators cancel as many games as they want; it's the china fans' loss.

Go USA!

Seems to me Xi is over-reacting.

I take my hat off to China in that it's a brilliant way to dominate foreign policy. You get companies (and countries) addicted to huge money and then threaten to withdraw that money if they don't tow the line on foreign policy. So far it's working. The majority of western companies offer grovelling apologies and tow the CCP party line afraid of losing their access to the market. China has even got countries to withdraw support from Taiwan using this same method. A few years ago, the UK government was unhappy with China in Hong Kong. The Chinese didn't like this so they pressurised British businesses in mainland China. Those businesses went to the government to get them back down and the government did. It's a brilliant tactic and a lot cheaper than an armed conflict. Until the western addiction to Chinese money and cheap labour stops, this will continue to go on. And at the moment, China is winning.

Most fragile thing in existence - the Chinese heart.

This is the biggest lie of them all... China blocks Twitter, so how can whatever is written upon the platform find its way to the Chinese Mainlanders ? China is trying to impose it's own regime upon the rest of the World through threats of cutting off access to their Market! NBA, FIFA, etc should all turn their backs on China... then lets see what happens! Time to get rid of the CCP.

Great to see the NBA standing up for freedom to criticise China.

Will they also officially criticize and boycott the Chinese for thier oppression and arrests of the HK freedom protesters like they removed the planned 2017 NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte as punishment for the bathroom bill which was designed to protect little girls from potential predator men masquerading as women?

Not expecting it. Hypocrites. Lecturing everyone else about morality.