Seen but not heard: Lakers, Nets are silent in Shanghai

LeBron James raised his arms in appreciation of the crowd in Shanghai shortly after the final buzzer, then removed his headband and flipped it toward some ticketholders clamoring for a oneofakind souvenir. He was seen. He wasn’t heard, though. Nor was any other player or coach in China, in an NBA game like none other.

In response to the NBA defending Daryl Morey’s freedom of speech, Chinese officials took it away from the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. All of the usual media sessions that were to be part of the teams’ preseason game Thursday — including a news conference from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and postgame news conferences with the teams — were canceled.

It was the latest salvo in the rift between the league and China stemming from a sincedeleted tweet posted last week by Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets.

The game was held as scheduled, with James and Nets guard Kyrie Irving getting loud ovations when they were introduced as starters. But neither the U.S. nor the Chinese national anthem was played before the game, and no players addressed the crowd before tipoff in a departure from tradition before such international games. Fans arriving at the arena to watch — many of them donning NBA jerseys — were handed small Chinese flags to carry with them inside.

The Nets won, 114111. That is not why this game will be remembered. Virtually all corporate signage was removed from the playing surface and other spots in MercedesBenz Arena.

In Tokyo, it was the Rockets not permitting certain questions.

After Houston finished its twogame preseason series in Tokyo against Toronto on Thursday, CNN reporter Christina Macfarlane tried to ask Rockets guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook if they would be hesitant to speak out about political or societal issues going forward after having seen the fallout from Morey’s tweet.

A Rockets media official did not allow the question to be answered. The NBA later apologized to Macfarlane, saying the Rockets’ decision was inappropriate.

“We’ve apologized to Ms. Macfarlane as this was inconsistent with how the NBA conducts media events,” the NBA said.