The NBA and China

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Today in Heisyville, where the spittle flies fast and furious...

[Uncle Rico]

Yeah this is bullsh*t.

Just because someone doesn’t speak out every time injustice exists doesn’t mean they are hypocrites for pointing out when it does.

Do I think the NBA should do more wrt China?  Yes. But that doesn’t mean they should be faulted for standing up to injustice previously.

NBA put themselves in a no win position with regards to China.  Basketball players, too, with massive shoe deals.  You can’t shake your hand with the devil and say you’re only kidding.

I don’t dismiss their previous stances or opinions.  It’s easy for some to do because it scores political points and reinforces personal bias.  All this has done is, give ammunition to those who want them to shut up and sports for them.  It’s a shame because the league had done a great job making it a players league.

[MU82]

I've heard enough stupid stuff fall out of his mouth to know he is a POS.

Since you brought up Apple.  An organization over-run with Woke-ness and complains bitterly about police tactics in the US.

Again, you know nothing about Kerr.

All I said about Apple is that you couldn't possibly have been more wrong about the stock. So that's two things you know nothing about.

The rest ... I'm not going down another one of your sinkholes.

[Not A Serious Person]

Regarding Apple, the hits just keep on coming ....

Apple Deletes Taiwanese Flag Emoji From Hong Kong iPhones
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/apple-deletes-taiwanese-flag-emoji-hong-kong-iphones

-----

And, it happened again last night ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/10/free-hong-kong-demonstrators-disrupt-wizards-preseason-game-against-chinese-team/
Before the Wizards’ 137-98 victory, members of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation stood outside two arena entrances handing out “Free Hong Kong” T-shirts and holding signs admonishing the NBA for its initial handling of the fast-moving story that has mushroomed into a political battleground involving free speech and the league’s financial interest in China.

The NBA now painfully realizes this will never stop and they are in an impossible position that they will defend anyone with a sign criticizing the US government while tossing anyone with a sign criticizing the Chinese Government.

They are going to lose all their China money and, as was noted in the other thread, they are already making plans to REDUCE the salary cap by 15% next year.  Expect the players to consider striking over the impending pay cut.

Two telling comments on CNBC this morning ...

"This situation is so uncomfortable that ESPN is now forced to only talk about sports!"

"For decades we were told to engage with China and we would bring our morals and yearning for freedom to China. Instead, as the NBA and Apple are showing, the Chinese are exporting their hardline censorship to the US."

[wadesworld]

I've heard enough stupid stuff fall out of his mouth to know he is a POS.

Yes, it is stupid stuff that you think makes sense which is why this offends you.  No surprise here.

So tell us a wise one.  Why was moving the all-star game out of your city a good idea but the NBA needs to squelch any criticism of China?

Is the NBA a good useless liberal?  That is, criticize the stupid plastic straws but shy away from ever criticizing the world's largest polluter or the country that has 1.5 million Muslims in concentration camps ... China.

Deal with this Mr. Silver, show some REAL courage Steve Kerr and take on this issue ....
(if it helps Kerr and Silver get some morals and courage, tell them that China adheres to the same bathroom rules as Charlotte!)

Why Is the NBA in Xinjiang?
The league is running a training center in the middle of one of the world’s worst humanitarian atrocities.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/xinjiang-the-nba-is-running-a-training-camp-in-the-middle-of-one-of-the-worlds-worst-humanitarian-atrocities.html

In Oct. 2016, the NBA set up one of its three Chinese training centers in, of all places, Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang and site of massive race riots in 2009 that left hundreds dead. The center, which houses roughly 240 student-athletes ages 14 to 18, according to its website, has kept a very low profile. That’s unsurprising—because the NBA presence in Xinjiang is shameful.

Over the past few years, Xinjiang has become ground zero for a repressive revolution into a total control state. Think less George Orwell and more Michel Foucault, the philosopher of power who described a system of total control as a “cruel, ingenious cage.” Shoppers often must allow their faces to be scanned just to enter markets around the vast region. Passing through dozens of checkpoints on an April trip to Xinjiang, the American Ph.D. student Darren Byler was struck by the casual racism. Uighurs were required to scan their IDs and faced far longer lines and police harassment. Han Chinese—who make up roughly 92 percent of China’s population, and roughly half of Xinjiang’s population of 22 million—did not. “During my entire trip, I did not see a Han individual produce his or her ID, or even pause for a moment to wonder if they should,” he wrote.

NBA stars like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have condemned police violence and racism in the United States, while players and executives have protested the Trump administration’s separation of immigrant children from their parents. According to his LinkedIn page, the NBA executive George Land oversees the Xinjiang training center. On Twitter, Land’s most recent activity is a retweet of the MSNBC host Chris Hayes condemning the U.S. separation of thousands of mothers from their children. But what about Xinjiang? Thousands of Uighur children are reportedly languishing in orphanages, awaiting their parents’ release from the concentration camps. The NBA didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. Nor did Land. Nor did China’s foreign ministry. (In a response to the recent United Nations report, a senior Chinese official denied the reports of torture and persecution of Uighurs and said that the camps were for “criminals involved only in minor offenses,” to teach them vocational skills.)

Retired Lakers star Kobe Bryant, still one of the most popular players in China, said on a September 2017 visit to China that watching NBA games as a child “inspired me to dream and helped me become creative. I’m very excited that the kids here also have that same opportunity.”

Good for the NBA for encouraging Chinese kids to dream. Now it’s time to stop turning a blind eye to Muslim kids’ nightmares.

Is the NBA a good useless liberal?  What?  Lol.

[MU82]

Cool! The politics board is alive again!

[Cheeks]

Cool! The politics board is alive again!

You kept it going through at least two weeks ago, so not sure why this is a shocker to you.  Oh, we know you thought you were being subtle and clever in your comments, but people aren’t dumb.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Cool! The politics board is alive again!

Heisey is unbalanced, he can't help himself.  I mean, frothing at the mouth imbalanced.

[Pakuni]

Heisey is unbalanced, he can't help himself.  I mean, frothing at the mouth imbalanced.

C'mon guys. Heisey cares deeply about human rights abuses in China, and totally isn't using the situation to lash out at those who've offended him for their political views in the past.

[tower912]

Protesting human rights violations in America is bad if it hurts the NFL's bottom line.    Not protesting human rights violations in China is bad for the NBA, even though to do so even a little bit hurts the bottom line.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Protesting human rights violations in America is bad if it hurts the NFL's bottom line.    Not protesting human rights violations in China is bad for the NBA is bad, even though to do so even a little bit hurts the bottom line.

This is the heart of it.

The actual "bad thing" according to some is shining a light on our own warts. Pointing a finger and demonizing an outside/other? Do it to your heart's content... in fact, it's your moral obligation to do so.

Glass houses.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Get a load of that terrible authoritarian country over in the Eastern Hemisphere! We must call out this injustice, it would be hypocritical not to do so!

[cheebs09]

Lakers and Nets played last night in front of a sold out crowd. People were wondering if Silver would cancel or China not allow them to play.

[wadesworld]

It is really sad that you think this way and are incapable of telling the difference between the two.

Lots of "plastic straw" lefties here ... take on the useless and meaningless, merely to make yourself feel good, and look away at the hard stuff.

"Somebody called out my blatant hypocrisy.  I know absolutely nothing about their political view, but the fact that they called out the definition of hypocrisy means they are unquestionably a 'plastic straw' lefty."

You wanted attention.  You're getting your attention.  Just keep going with the shock value statements, no matter how stupid you look, and you'll be satisfied because today, MUScoop gave you some attention!

[Not A Serious Person]

Lakers and Nets played last night in front of a sold out crowd. People were wondering if Silver would cancel or China not allow them to play.

All advertising was removed.  The only signage was "NBA 2019." Players not allowed to talk to the press, and no post-game presser (by order of the Chinese Government).  Immediately after the game got on a bus to the airport.

[Not A Serious Person]

This is the heart of it.

The actual "bad thing" according to some is shining a light on our own warts. Pointing a finger and demonizing an outside/other? Do it to your heart's content... in fact, it's your moral obligation to do so.

Glass houses.

We allow protesting of our Government and praise it as a sign of woke-ness. But we censor players and fans that want to protest the Chinese Government.

No glass house, you have it exactly backward.

Please educate yourself before you open your mouth, stop acting like Steve Kerr.

[Pakuni]

"Somebody called out my blatant hypocrisy.  I know absolutely nothing about their political view, but the fact that they called out the definition of hypocrisy means they are unquestionably a 'plastic straw' lefty."

You wanted attention.  You're getting your attention.  Just keep going with the shock value statements, no matter how stupid you look, and you'll be satisfied because today, MUScoop gave you some attention!

It's telling that in his initial post that started this nonsense, Heisey didn't direct his outrage at Adam Silver or any other league executive for building the NBA's ties with China. He didn't denounce Tilman Fertitta or any other owner for their part in it.
The bad guy in his book is LeBron James, for daring to be in China because the league and his employer required him to be in China.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

We allow protesting of our Government and praise it as a sign of woke-ness. But we censor players and fans that want to protest the Chinese Government.

No glass house, you have it exactly backward.

Please educate yourself before you open your mouth, stop acting like Steve Kerr.

Protesting the government isn’t a sign of “woke-ness.”  It’s a sign of being an American.

[rocky_warrior]

Heisey probably won't reply today.  I think he took an unscheduled staycation.

[Uncle Rico]

It’s not like Steve Kerr has any personal history dealing with complicated world regions.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ftw.usatoday.com/2015/06/the-assassination-of-steve-kerrs-father-and-the-unlikely-story-of-a-champion/amp

It’s easy to bash him for some but the man knows better than most the world is a dangerous place and more complicated than bloviating on things you know little about

[JWags85]

This situation is so loaded in many ways.  And part of the reason I liked Silver's original comment that infuriated the Chinese so much.  In an increasingly partisan world where everything is black and white, grey not allowed, the Chinese all or nothing mentality isn't so foreign. 

One of the most alarming sentiments Ive seen pop up a decent amount is this over the top "well if you do business in China, and accept Chinese revenue, you're supporting and condoning their regime" which is so naive and narrow minded. 

Ive been very open in these threads at how upset I am about HK, and the progressive loss of what made/makes HK great, both from a social and from a business perspective.  And I have little respect for censorship, data soverignty, and a number of other tentpoles of the CCP.  But at the same time, I'm in a business that has a lot of growth opportunity in China and views China as a key market.  For many products/industries, the US and Europe is a developed market.  There is minimal growth, lots of attrition, and if you rely solely on these markets, you're a lost contract or two away from a world of hurt.  China, even with slowing growth and associated other issues, is a huge consumer market.  Many companies seek to business and sell to consumers there, and don't need to cut sweetheart deals or cater to the government to do so.  So I can see the difficulty of the NBA's position.

[tower912]

You can make parallel arguments about many countries.  Russia.  Saufi Arabia.  India.   And so many things can upset these international relations.

I am a big believer in the notion that I can't change everything. It is damn near impossible to get through a day without purchasing a product that somewhere in the supply chain involves a country or corporation that pisses me off in some way.   So I pick my fights.   It is highly unlikely I can change a foreign country.   But maybe, just maybe, enough people can make this country better.   You may fail.  But it is better to strive and fail than to do or say nothing.

In other words, LeBron can't fix China.   But maybe he can use his celebrity to convince a few people to do something in America.   And if enough try, maybe, eventually, they can succeed a little.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Well stated Tower

[Jockey]

You can make parallel arguments about many countries.  Russia.  Saufi Arabia.  India.   And so many things can upset these international relations.

I am a big believer in the notion that I can't change everything. It is damn near impossible to get through a day without purchasing a product that somewhere in the supply chain involves a country or corporation that pisses me off in some way.   So I pick my fights.   It is highly unlikely I can change a foreign country.   But maybe, just maybe, enough people can make this country better.   You may fail.  But it is better to strive and fail than to do or say nothing.

In other words, LeBron can't fix China.   But maybe he can use his celebrity to convince a few people to do something in America.   And if enough try, maybe, eventually, they can succeed a little.

Great post - another example of why you are annually in the running for MVP (Most Valuable Poster).

[mu03eng]

You can make parallel arguments about many countries.  Russia.  Saufi Arabia.  India.   And so many things can upset these international relations.

I am a big believer in the notion that I can't change everything. It is damn near impossible to get through a day without purchasing a product that somewhere in the supply chain involves a country or corporation that pisses me off in some way.   So I pick my fights.   It is highly unlikely I can change a foreign country.   But maybe, just maybe, enough people can make this country better.   You may fail.  But it is better to strive and fail than to do or say nothing.

In other words, LeBron can't fix China.   But maybe he can use his celebrity to convince a few people to do something in America.   And if enough try, maybe, eventually, they can succeed a little.

Heres where I'll disagree with you. The Chinese government, Chinese state media, and the Nets owner all put out statements that essentially were the Chinese version of shut up and dribble. I support the players league not shutting up but it at minimum cheapens their principles and stance if they choose to not shut up and dribble when it is economically convenient to do so.

I 100% support people staying out of the HK debate but this has become a larger issue of freedom of expression and what does it say to people when you abandon your principles for economic expediency?