Five years have passed since Chinese broadcasters stopped carrying Houston Rockets games due to a scandal that was started by general manager Daryl Morey of the team.
However, Silver stated Thursday at the Columbia University Sports Management Conference that he believes games might soon return to China because the NBA and China have now patched things up.
At some point, I believe, we will bring games back to China,” he remarked. “We were taken off the air for a while by the Chinese authorities. We agreed to that. We adhered to our principles. Everyone in our league is free to express themselves.
The relationship deteriorated in 2019 after Morey said on social media that he backed anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong.
Given that China is a significant market for the NBA, Silver claims that what happened following the post hurt the league’s finances.
Mark Cuban defends the NBA’s partnership with China despite opposition to “violations of Chinese and all human rights.”
Silver added that Morey’s backing for anti-government rallies in 2019 led to a disagreement from China, which resulted in Chinese officials wanting him sacked.
