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NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

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Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#61

Post by dang »

sharadov wrote: post #47
pitt1980 wrote: post #22

The Chinese government's reaction to this seems extraordinarily strong to me. The NBA is hugely popular there, don't they risk annoying huge chunks of their own population by taking it off the air? Morey is not even an especially notable NBA figure, Twitter doesn't even work in China, it would have been easy to block news of this in China. It seems like the reaction would cause a Streisand effect there. Isn't a backl…

You think the Chinese care about "annnoying" their people. This is a totalitarian regime, which has ruthlessly run over its own people,there is no concept of individual rights, the populace is brainwashed into "nationalism" and that is all that matters. Country over self! Western thought with its ideas of human rights and free speech is alien to them.

Please don't take HN threads further into nationalistic flamewar. It's low-quality and repetitive, and invariably turns nasty, and those things make it off topic here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#63

Post by taobility »

lancesells wrote: post #21

Crazy how all this started from a service (Twitter) that is banned in China. Not only censoring apps that do business there but outrage over a comment on an app the Chinese people aren't even supposed to see.

There are millions of Chinese living at USA right now

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#64

Post by [deleted] »

baumy wrote: post #51
sgoraya wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Morey is not even an especially notable NBA figure, Twitter doesn't even work in China, it would have been easy to block news of this in China. NBA fan, who will NOT be renewing league pass, checking in. Morey is considered one of the top NBA GM's of one of the top teams (Rockets) that have a strong Sino-centric fan base because of former Rocket great, Yao Ming. Yao was the first Chinese superstar in the NBA. The R…

Another longtime NBA fan here, just backing up what you're saying about Morey. Especially in regards to the NBA in China, he's a fairly significant figure, more so than the original comment implies. On a different note - I was in the same boat as you and actually wrote an email to the league pass support address (did not get a reply yet) telling them that I had been a customer for years and would not be renewing this…

[deleted]

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#65

Post by adventured »

djohnston wrote: post #52
clairity wrote: post #19

the compare and contrast of this with the nfl and colin kaepernick is interesting. here, a general manager of a team (not a player) showed support for free speech (the protests) and democratic values over tyranny, and the league rallied (measured) support for him. many americans then criticized the nba for not going far enough, because greed. with the nfl, a player protests minority persecution by the police (an expr…

The league didn't really support the GM, and plenty of people are still pissed about Kaepernick. More importantly, the NFL hasn't gone to the same degree of virtue signaling that the NBA has.

In fact there was massive support across the US for Kaepernick. Nike saw a big net public benefit to using his position in its advertising. The parent comment is ignoring the widespread support that Kaepernick received in the stance that he took, including from a very large number of active NFL players, celebrities, other sports players, and Americans in general.

Now contrast that actual reality in the US with what's going on with China where there is zero allowed room for dissent. The US comes out universally, overwhelmingly favorably.

Kaepernick made money on his settlement with the NFL and is practically becoming a folk hero in the sports world (see the Betsy Ross flag shoe matter). He'd be in prison or executed in China for an equivalent stance.

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#66

Post by sharadov »

dang wrote: post #61
sharadov wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think the Chinese care about "annnoying" their people. This is a totalitarian regime, which has ruthlessly run over its own people,there is no concept of individual rights, the populace is brainwashed into "nationalism" and that is all that matters. Country over self! Western thought with its ideas of human rights and free speech is alien to them.

Please don't take HN threads further into nationalistic flamewar. It's low-quality and repetitive, and invariably turns nasty, and those things make it off topic here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Thanks, that was not my intention.

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#67

Post by sharadov »

taobility wrote: post #53
sharadov wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think the Chinese care about "annnoying" their people. This is a totalitarian regime, which has ruthlessly run over its own people,there is no concept of individual rights, the populace is brainwashed into "nationalism" and that is all that matters. Country over self! Western thought with its ideas of human rights and free speech is alien to them.

If the game players don't respect my culture, respect my nation, why would I watch their games?!

How did they disrespect your culture?

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#68

Post by yourbandsucks »

baumy wrote: post #51
sgoraya wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Morey is not even an especially notable NBA figure, Twitter doesn't even work in China, it would have been easy to block news of this in China. NBA fan, who will NOT be renewing league pass, checking in. Morey is considered one of the top NBA GM's of one of the top teams (Rockets) that have a strong Sino-centric fan base because of former Rocket great, Yao Ming. Yao was the first Chinese superstar in the NBA. The R…

Another longtime NBA fan here, just backing up what you're saying about Morey. Especially in regards to the NBA in China, he's a fairly significant figure, more so than the original comment implies. On a different note - I was in the same boat as you and actually wrote an email to the league pass support address (did not get a reply yet) telling them that I had been a customer for years and would not be renewing this…

I'm glad Silver took his time and got it right. The response was perfect -- de-escalating, respectful, yet firmly refusing to get into policing their employees, as you say.

The NBA shouldn't be the vanguard of American foreign policy.

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#69

Post by baumy »

yourbandsucks wrote: post #68
baumy wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another longtime NBA fan here, just backing up what you're saying about Morey. Especially in regards to the NBA in China, he's a fairly significant figure, more so than the original comment implies. On a different note - I was in the same boat as you and actually wrote an email to the league pass support address (did not get a reply yet) telling them that I had been a customer for years and would not be renewing this…

I'm glad Silver took his time and got it right. The response was perfect -- de-escalating, respectful, yet firmly refusing to get into policing their employees, as you say. The NBA shouldn't be the vanguard of American foreign policy.

My ideal statement would have gone something like this:

"I (Adam Silver) support the principles of democracy and human rights, and stand with the people of Hong Kong in trying to secure those for themselves. The rest of the NBA stands with them as well. We apologize for responding to this incident incorrectly initially, we were deeply worried about losing the Chinese audience for many reasons. Our revenue and growth as an organization is certainly one of them, and additionally we feel that exposure to other cultures, even through the limited lens of broadcasted basketball games, can only be a positive thing for any people. But after some reflection, we've decided that the principles Daryl Morey was expressing support for when he tweeted are ones that we cannot in good conscience shy away from supporting as well, even at potential financial cost."

I realize that this is a pipe dream, and the NBA will never do it. But since you asked =)

You say that the NBA shouldn't be the vanguard of American foreign policy, and I don't disagree with that statement. But if the NBA were to hypothetically make a statement like the above, is that really them being the vanguard? Or is it a group of private citizens (organized under the banner of a for-profit corporation) deciding that there are certain principles they stand for as a company? And what's wrong with that?

Re: NBA Events in China Disrupted over Hong Kong Tweet

#70

Post by clairity »

djohnston wrote: post #52
clairity wrote: post #19

the compare and contrast of this with the nfl and colin kaepernick is interesting. here, a general manager of a team (not a player) showed support for free speech (the protests) and democratic values over tyranny, and the league rallied (measured) support for him. many americans then criticized the nba for not going far enough, because greed. with the nfl, a player protests minority persecution by the police (an expr…

The league didn't really support the GM, and plenty of people are still pissed about Kaepernick. More importantly, the NFL hasn't gone to the same degree of virtue signaling that the NBA has.

> "the NFL hasn't gone to the same degree of virtue signaling that the NBA has."

the nfl very clearly virtue-signaled loyalty over freedom, which coincided neatly with their financial interests.

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