Naming native Chinese as head of NBA mainland unit ‘not enough’
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has appointed a Chinese national as its China branch boss, but prominent commentators and fans noted if it wants to win its way back to the Chinese mainland market, it should properly handle Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey – who tweeted in support of Hong Kong rioters last year, leading to significant disappointment and a boycott by the Chinese public, including major broadcasting partners.
NBA officials are anticipating potential losses “in the hundreds of millions of dollars across the sport” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Guardian on Tuesday, citing an ESPN report. This is another blow for a league still reeling from the economic damage arising from its frayed relationship with China, which is estimated to be a billion-dollar business, and even more if taking advertisement and patronage into consideration.
Suffering enormous losses, the league is eager to pick up its performance in China, which has successfully reined in the COVID-19 pandemic, with a friendly gesture, said observers.
The association of professional teams in the US announced on Tuesday its appointment of Michael Ma Xiaofei as the new CEO for the NBA’s China branch, effective in June.
The new executive is the son of Ma Guoli, one of the founding figures of China Central Television’s (CCTV) sports channel, who helped break the ice and introduce NBA live games to CCTV in the 1990s.
The new appointment no doubt reflects NBA’s belief that Ma can get the league out of the situation, given his background, Su Qun, one of the best-known basketball commentators in China, told the Global Times.
If the Morey incident is properly handled, the NBA, in the long run, could demonstrate that China welcomes foreign businesses to invest and make money in the country, as long as they respect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Su said.
Chinese netizens commented on the NBA official reshuffle, and many said they could not care less about the US league, unless Morey is punished for his misbehavior.