Following the resignation of NBA Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece CCTV warned Friday that any attempt to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will “come at a price. A CCTV sports channel spokesman also ridiculed Morey with the usual wishes for the deceased, saying he wished him a “good journey”.
The news of Murray’s resignation became hot news on the Chinese Internet, with Chinese netizens overwhelmingly applauding the resignation, which many saw as a bargaining chip in exchange for CCTV’s rebroadcast of NBA games. The Chinese media, however, were relatively cautious, not linking the reason for Murray’s resignation to the replay on CCTV, other than to point to the prospect of a full recovery of the NBA in China.
The company’s spokesman, CCTV Sports Channel, said in the morning of Oct. 16 that it had learned of Murray’s resignation and had “no comment” on the matter, congratulating Rafael Stone on his promotion as the new Rockets GM.
The NBA’s president, Adam Searle, said the NBA has been “very successful” in the past few years.
Subsequently, NBA president Adam Silver said that the Chinese government had asked the NBA to fire Morey, but was refused. Because of Murray’s and the NBA’s refusal to apologize, CCTV led a boycott, suspending the Rockets’ games and then the NBA’s games altogether. Chinese manufacturers also stopped their commercial sponsorship of the Rockets.
A year later, on October 10, CCTV Sports suddenly resumed broadcasting Game 5 of the NBA’s 2020 championship game, calling it a “normal broadcast arrangement”. The Los Angeles Lakers won the championship. Morey, who has been the general manager of the Houston Rockets since the 2007-08 season, announced his resignation on Oct. 15, effective Nov. 1.
In his statement, Morey, 48, made no mention of his tweets, which worsened the NBA’s relationship with China, the NBA’s most profitable overseas market. China is the NBA’s most profitable overseas market, and the NBA president previously estimated that the league had lost about $400 million as a result of the NBA’s boycott of China.
The Chinese Communist Party has a history of sanctioning and boycotting foreign stars and entertainers who dare to criticize its human rights record, leading the latter to speak cautiously about China. NBA star James, who has been outspoken on domestic political issues in the U.S., has been criticized for his reticence to speak out on the issue of Hong Kong people’s struggle for democracy and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese NBA mouthpiece Su Qun said in an article on QQ.com that the Lakers, who eliminated the Rockets, should be thanked for Murray’s resignation. He said, “If it weren’t for the Lakers, this would have been a really hard thing to do. He said that the NBA has experienced unprecedented pain in the past year. The Lakers and LeBron James saved the Rockets, the NBA, and “at least the future of the NBA in China”.
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