Exhibitions in China still on — for now

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday that the league is still expecting them to play as scheduled this week, even while the rift between the league and Chinese officials continued in ways that clearly suggested the two planned games in Shanghai and Shenzhen were anything but guaranteed.

The NBA called off scheduled media sessions Wednesday for both teams. At least two other NBA events to be held Wednesday before the start of the China games were canceled as part of the fallout that started after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a since-deleted tweet last week that showed support for antigovernment protesters in Hong Kong.

“Given the fluidity of the situation, today’s media availability has been postponed,” the league said. The sessions were not rescheduled Wednesday, though having them on Thursday — game day in Shanghai — remains possible.

In Shanghai, the mood surrounding the game that — if played — will feature LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and other big NBA names was anything but festive. An NBA Cares event that was to benefit the Special Olympics was called off, as was a “fan night” celebration that was to be highlighted by the league announcing plans to refurbish some outdoor courts in that city. And workers in multiple spots around Shanghai were tearing down large outdoor promotional advertisements for Thursday’s Lakers-Nets game.

The teams are also supposed to play Saturday in Shenzhen.

Several Chinese companies have suspended their partnership with the NBA in recent days, and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said it will not broadcast the Lakers-Nets games.

All around China, stores that sell NBA merchandise were removing Rockets-related apparel from shelves. HONG KONG SUPPORTERS WIZARDS GAME >> Protesters handed out T-shirts and held up signs in support of Hong Kong when the Washington Wizards hosted a team from the Chinese Basketball Association. The Wizards beat the Guangzhou Long-Lions 137-98 in a game that included more than a half-dozen protests inside Capital One Arena over the NBA’s ongoing rift with the Chinese government.

Protesters handed out “Free Hong Kong” T-shirts on the street outside the arena before the exhibition game. The protesters held up signs reading, “Shame the NBA,” and “Memo to the NBA: Principles over profit! No censorship! USA loves Hong Kong.”