Celtics games have been shut down in China after one player’s pro-Tibet tweet

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Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics has not shied from political activism.





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The NBA, perhaps the most politically progressive men’s professional league in the U.S., has long fostered a culture where players feel free to voice their opinions on issues like police brutality, racial justice and presidential elections.


Kanter is not the first NBA player or official to anger China


But players and staff have repeatedly run into trouble when criticizing China, whether about Tibet or pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

In 2019, as the protests in Hong Kong were at their peak, Daryl Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted an image to Twitter that read «Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.»

On mainland China, the backlash was immediate — and especially notable because the Houston Rockets had long been China’s most popular NBA team, thanks to a Hall of Fame-level career by Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming.



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After Morey’s tweet, the Chinese Basketball Association, led by Ming, cut ties with the Rockets. The Chinese consulate in Houston issued an anti-Rockets statement. Chinese businesses removed Rockets merchandise for sale. Tencent delisted Houston games and China Central TV canceled NBA broadcasts.

Afterward, the NBA called the tweet «regrettable,» and Morey apologized after deleting the original tweet.

«I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event,» he wrote.

1/ I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.

— Daryl MorΞy ?? (@dmorey) October 7, 2019

Two years later, Tencent still does not offer streams of the Philadelphia 76ers, where Morey now works as the president of basketball operations.

The NBA is far from the only sports league to face backlash in China after critical comments by players.

After Arsenal star Mesut Özil spoke out against the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China, the Premier League’s broadcast partners in China refused to show the team’s matches. Arsenal publicly distanced itself from the comments before benching Özil. He left the team earlier this year.