Local protester plans to test NBA’s support of free speech at game
Vancouver resident Lee Haber was already planning to do something at tonight’s pre-season game at Rogers Arena to test the NBA’s commitment to free speech. But he was further spurred on when, earlier this week, L.A. Lakers star LeBron James returned from a tense trip to China and reignited a recent controversy over comments about protesters in Hong Kong.
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sparked the debate with an Oct. 4 tweet in support of the protesters, which brought immediate condemnation from Chinese authorities and threatened the NBA’s future in the world’s most populous country.
When James was asked about the situation before the Lakers played a pre-season game across the river from Hong Kong this weekend, he responded: “I don’t want to get into a ... feud with Daryl, but I believe he wasn’t educated about the situation.”
“I think LeBron’s comments shows just how much of an influence the Chinese government has had on our society and how much harder we need to work to defend our basic rights,” said Haber, who is part of a group in Vancouver planning to hand out flyers, hold signs and shout messages of support for Hong Kong protesters, inside and outside of Rogers Arena.
Some NBA teams and venues have ejected fans at other pre-season games for similar behaviour.
Rogers Arena does have a standing policy prohibiting banners with commercial or political messages.
Stephanie Maniago, the Rogers Arena-based media relations manager with Canucks Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement that she was gathering more information and consulting with the NBA.
She did not cite Rogers Arena’s stated policy about fans carrying posters or banners with politically motivated messages. NBA Canada’s communications manager, Ashton Lawrence, did not reply to Postmedia queries.
“I think there are people within the NBA who think this will just go away, that this is just going to blow over in the next week,” said Haber. “We are here to remind them that, no, these are our basic rights. We care about these things. We want to see that the NBA really values free speech of their players and fans over the profits from access to the market controlled by the Chinese communist state.”
Haber said he is aware of the sign policy at Rogers Arena.
“We’re not interested in intentionally breaking their law. We are not here to cause trouble. We want to preserve our right to free speech in terms of being fans.”