Former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey thought he “might never work in the NBA again” after he tweeted support of protests in Hong Kong.
Morey, who now holds the President of Basketball Operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, shared the concerns he had after the infamous tweet in an interview published Wednesday by ESPN.
“I had moments where I thought I might never work in the NBA again …”
Daryl Morey told ESPN after he shared a post expressing support for a protest group in Hong Kong last October. https://t.co/BlbkEpSO4M
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 23, 2020
“In the last 12 months, I had moments where I thought I might never work in the NBA again, for reasons I was willing to go down for,” Morey told ESPN. “But I love working, I love what I do, and I didn’t want that to happen.” (RELATED: REPORT: Daryl Morey To Sign 5-Year Deal President Of Basketball Operations For Philadelphia 76ers)
On Oct. 18, 2019, Morey tweeted “fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” The tweet was later deleted.
At the time, NBA star LeBron James accused Morey of being uninformed at the time the general manager made the comment, but Morey stood firm that he knew what he was doing, ESPN reported.
“I’m very comfortable with what I did,” he told the outlet.
Morey claimed his family did experience threats following his tweet.
“Luckily I had [access to] different people who were assisting me with that and giving me advice on how to handle it,” Morey told the outlet. “Hopefully, I’ve been able to get where we have some level of safety.”
“But I was extremely concerned,” he added. “You don’t want the second-most powerful government on Earth mad at you, if you can avoid it. In this case, I couldn’t.”
Despite being worried about being removed from the league, Morey retained his position as the Rockets’ general manager and eventually resigned on Oct. 15. The news of his new position with the 76ers came just weeks later.