NBA star LeBron James reportedly pressured the NBA to punish the Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey after he tweeted support for Hong Kong.
James argued that if something an NBA player tweeted had cost the league money they would have been punished, and questioned why the same wasn’t happening to Morey, according to Dave McMenamin on ESPN. (RELATED: LeBron James: ‘I Have A Platform’ To Speak Out Against ‘Something That’s Unjust’)
“Nearly a week ago today, in a Shanghai hotel room, or Shanghai hotel ballroom, Adam Silver got up and addressed the players, and LeBron James is one of the players who got up and spoke and said, ‘Hey, what are we doing here? Daryl Morey made these statements,'” McMenamin recalled on air Tuesday. “You know damn well if a player made the same statements and caused such poor ramifications for the league, there would be some sort of league recourse.” (RELATED: It’s Not Just The NBA — These Other American Companies Are Groveling At China’s Feet To Turn A Buck)
“There would be repercussions the player has to pay. You know, potentially this tweet could cost the NBA hundreds of millions of dollars. That could come out of the players’ pockets, and so that’s the double standard that was being addressed in that meeting,” he continued. (RELATED: LeBron James Laments That NBA Could Be Harmed ‘Financially’ By Rockets GM’s Pro-Hong Kong Stance)
The comments by James were made during a players meeting on Oct. 9 before the Lakers vs. Nets game in Shanghai, according to a report published by The Athletic.
Lakers’ LeBron James on NBA’s China controversy: “I don’t want to get into a … feud with Daryl Morey but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.” pic.twitter.com/KKrMNU0dKR
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) October 15, 2019
The ESPN interview aired after James went public with his comments on China. (RELATED: Sports World Silent Following LeBron James’ China Comments)
“We all talk about this freedom of speech — yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and only thinking about yourself,” James said during a press conference Monday. “I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand.”