NBA’s Silver says crisis in China has resulted in ‘substantial’ losses

The NBA’s crisis in China, triggered by the Houston Rockets general manager tweeting support for Hong Kong protesters, has already cost the league“substantial” losses.

“The financial consequences may go on and be fairly dramatic,” Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday at the Time 100 Health Summit in New York. But the league is willing to take on the costs to support free expression, he said.

The NBA was plunged into turmoil earlier this month after the Rockets’ Daryl Morey posted the tweet in support of prodemocracy demonstrators in Hong Kong. He soon deleted the message, but China took umbrage and the NBA’s sponsors in the country cut ties with the league. Silver further inflamed tensions at the time by supporting Morey’s right to free speech, telling reporters the league wouldn’t police what people can say.

It all happened on the eve of two NBA preseason games that were played in China. Though they went ahead as planned, the local broadcasts were canceled in China and partners pulled out.

One of the biggest lingering questions was how severe the financial fallout would be. The NBA is the most popular U.S. league in the world’s most populous country — with some 800 million Chinese fans — and its business there is already a billion-dollar enterprise.

As of right now, NBA games aren’t back on the air in China, Silver said at the conference, where he mostly spoke about mental health. He added that Chinese interests asked for Morey to be fired for the tweet.