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Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

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Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#3
Wait, a person expressed views in favour of democracy and felt he had to backtrack because of pressure from a dictatorship?

Here's how this works: we express views that anger dictatorships, and if there is even a minute chance that your business tanks because of it - then you were in the wrong market or had the wrong owners.

The right thing to do here for the NBA would be to stand behind this tweet. Corporations need to be constantly trolling China. I'm talking megacorps marking the anniversaries of Tianmen, or calling Taiwan "the totally independent country of Taiwan" and so on.

Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#4
Could you imagine the NBA making players apologize for posting Tweets criticizing Trump? Remember when LeBron and others wore "I Can't Breathe" t-shirts and Adam Silver supported them?

Teams & players should be taking a strong stand here to support one of their own, but this really shows that there is a $$$ value for everything, including freedom of speech and expression.

Economic threats from a foreign government should be treated the same as military ones. I'm sure Rockets games will be back on air in an instant if US sanctions expand to completely block NBA broadcasting in China, player visas and sports apparel manufacturing.

Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#6
> "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong" -> "I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event," he said, adding that he had since heard and considered other perspectives.

Unless I hear those "other perspectives", I'll simply assume he was exposed to pressure, not reason.

Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#8
post #3

Wait, a person expressed views in favour of democracy and felt he had to backtrack because of pressure from a dictatorship? Here's how this works: we express views that anger dictatorships, and if there is even a minute chance that your business tanks because of it - then you were in the wrong market or had the wrong owners. The right thing to do here for the NBA would be to stand behind this tweet. Corporations need…

You might want to look at the very long history of sport and power.

Going back to at least the Greeks.

Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#9
post #4

Could you imagine the NBA making players apologize for posting Tweets criticizing Trump? Remember when LeBron and others wore "I Can't Breathe" t-shirts and Adam Silver supported them? Teams & players should be taking a strong stand here to support one of their own, but this really shows that there is a $$$ value for everything, including freedom of speech and expression. Economic threats from a foreign government sh…

Well football player Colin Kaepernick previously faced a lot of criticism for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism, and Donald Trump said he should be fired. Colin then accused the NFL of keeping him out of the league due to it.

Although this is a bit different, because this happens on the field, whereas Twitter is more separate.

Re: Houston Rockets general manager apologises for Hong Kong protest tweet

#10
post #3

Wait, a person expressed views in favour of democracy and felt he had to backtrack because of pressure from a dictatorship? Here's how this works: we express views that anger dictatorships, and if there is even a minute chance that your business tanks because of it - then you were in the wrong market or had the wrong owners. The right thing to do here for the NBA would be to stand behind this tweet. Corporations need…

had to backtrack because of pressure from a dictatorship?

It's not pressure from a dictatorship that's making them back down, it's pressure from a big potential customer. The dictatorship part is both incidental and irrelevant to the NBA.

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