NBA protesters defend Hong Kong democracy
Protesters gathered Thursday outside of Rogers Arena in Vancouver to show support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests before a pre-season basketball game between NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks.
Inside the arena, newly minted Clipper Kawhi Leonard was preparing to play his first game in Canada since leaving the NBA champion Toronto Raptors for his hometown team this summer. There has been plenty of chatter about his return. But outside, a small contingent of protesters did their part to shift the conversation to the league’s recent falling out with the Chinese government.
The NBA has made major inroads in China, becoming the country’s most popular sports league in recent years. But the relationship has grown tense since Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. Morey was quickly muzzled as the NBA attempted to protect its financial interests, but the damage was done. On Thursday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Chinese officials even pushed for Morey to be fired, a request that was emphatically refused.
“We said, ‘There’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him,’” Silver said in New York.
Silver admitted that he’s not sure what happens next. But activists outside Rogers Arena were clear about what the league should do.
“Fight for freedom!” the protesters shouted, holding up signs condemning the NBA for bowing to totalitarianism. “Stand for Hong Kong!”
Protester Thekla Lit spoke to Postmedia while handing out flyers urging fans to stand with Hong Kong during a demonstration near the end of the first quarter.
“We are here to let more people know that we should be supporting the Hong Kong people’s fight for freedom,” she said. “It’s a very alarming sign because we are here in a free and democratic society, but our freedom of speech can be suppressed by another country, so many thousand miles away.”
Lee Haber, the protest’s organizer, said Canadians have a stake in the conflict in Hong Kong as well.
“What’s come up with the NBA is that it’s not just about Hong Kong — it’s about our own right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression here in Canada and in the United States, that an oppressive regime is intimidating companies to basically censor their own employees, censor their own fans.
“Commissioner Silver has stated that he will stand by the free speech of the players, fans, employees, people in the NBA community,” Haber said. “We’re here to hold him to his word, that the NBA will put the free speech of their people ahead of access to the Chinese market.”