National Post (National Edition)
THE NEW CHINA SYNDROME
NBA FINDS ITSELF CAUGHT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A GREAT WALL
Adam Silver is generally the one sports commissioner that everyone admires.
Where NHL boss Gary Bettman meets all criticism with a mixture of condescension and disdain, and NFL chief suit Roger Goodell has never come across a smouldering ember of controversy that he couldn’t fan into a conflagration, Silver, in his sixth year as NBA commissioner, sioner, has had a deft touch.
He oversaw the vanishing anishing of former L.A. Clippers rs owner Donald Sterling when his racist comments were caught t on tape; he has managed to steer eer the NBA through the e culture wars by allowing players to speak critically on social issues while ensuring that they avoid the third rail of kneeling during The Star-Spangled Banner; he called for gambling legalization years ago and has watched as his counterparts who once recoiled at the very idea of such a thing are now falling all over themselves to get a piece of that sweet wagering lucre.
But in trying to delicately navigate the controversy unleashed by a single pro-Hong K Kong tweet from Houston ton Rocke Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, Mor Silver has quickly discovere discovered what so many other Western businesses b and politicians icians have ha found before him: the there is no appealing to B Beijing’s sense of reasonableness.
When you stir China into a fit of pique, all you can do is grab on to the handrails and ride it out.
On Tuesday, with Silver in Tokyo for exhibition games between the Toronto Raptors and the Rockets, he issued a new statement on the Morey flap, saying that the “NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on (certain) issues.”
This was a clarification of sorts from Sunday, when in response to Morey’s tweet that read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” and the ensuing backlash from China, which included the severing of various NBA-related relationships, Silver had opened his initial prepared statement by saying that he recognized that the “views expressed” by Morey had “offended” many in China, which was “regrettable.”
Although that missive did include some boilerplate about allowing NBA employees to share their views, on the whole it read like the league upbraiding Morey for being offside with China. That position was reinforced by apologies from the Rockets ownership and players. Silver, no doubt aware of criticisms that he was rolling over and hoping for a belly rub from a Communist dictatorship, one credibly accused of various human-rights abuses, Tuesday made clear that freedom of speech was a big deal in his league, even if it meant “we will have to live with those consequences.”
Those consequences keep coming. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has killed plans to televise two exhibition games in that country between the L.A. Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets this week, and there are reports that the snit could extend to cancelling the games altogether. CCTV sniffed that “any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech,” and perhaps it should not be surprising that the state broadcaster in China has a loose definition of freespeech rights.
Meanwhile, the Chinese streaming service Tencent, which has a new US$1.5-billion deal with the NBA, has said it will not show any Rockets games and CCTV says it will review all of its NBA partnerships. The seas, they are a-roiling.
The league’s roots in China are deep. It opened offices there decades ago, and has routinely sent NBA stars overseas to build ties in what is its biggest foreign market by far. While the Rockets, where Chinese legend Yao Ming spent his entire career, are at the vanguard of the NBA’s China outreach, other teams also take part in Chinese New Year initiatives, including special jerseys with Chinese lettering. It is no secret that Silver, and his predecessor, saw China as key to the growth of the NBA.
But part of that growth, it would seem, has to include never making Beijing mad. Western entities eventually figure this out, whether it is Mercedes-Benz apologizing for having the temerity to quote the Dalai Lama in an ad, or the Canadian government caught in the middle of a legal dispute between China and the United States. Justin Trudeau and Adam Silver look about as different as it is possible for two white guys to look, and yet they would surely have some war stories to share about dealing with an obstinate regime with the size and influence to make their lives very difficult.
But once ties are built and partnerships expanded, the possibility for this kind of mess in China is always there. Consider that The Associated Press quoted a spokesman with China’s foreign ministry as saying that the NBA, as a longtime partner, should have known better than to endorse any view not held by Beijing.
“How can it be possible to carry out exchanges and co-operation with China without knowing China’s public opinion?” said Geng Shaung.
But that’s it right there, of course. Public opinion is not a single thought shared by all, even if a Communist propagandist might suggest Beijing’s opinion to be universal. Adam Silver runs a league in which the last few champions have made a point of skipping the traditional White House visit because they disagree with the views of its present occupant. No one thinks much about it, because freedom of choice here is accepted. Woe betide the Chinese team that tries to pull such intransigence off over there.
This is the compromise that is made when China is simply viewed as a great big market to be exploited: You have to keep quiet and hope you don’t get a crick in your neck from always turning a blind eye.
Silver is expected to travel to Shanghai on Wednesday, and has said he hopes to smooth things over then. Let’s see if they let him in the country first.