In a private meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, players from the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers reportedly criticized the league for their handling of the NBA-China rift.
During the meeting reportedly held last week, the players slammed Silver for saying Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey would receive no punishment for tweeting his support of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
According to ESPN, the players were upset that Morey was let off the hook. “Several players said they believed that if a player had cost the NBA millions of dollars because of a tweet, there would be repercussions,” ESPN reported.
Apparently, the players were not worried that their league was cooperating with the world’s biggest human rights abuser, nor were they upset that the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong were being threatened, jailed, and maybe even killed by a partner of the NBA.
Instead, the players were more upset about what they perceived to be the inconsistent way in which Morey was treated for the tweet, and the fact that some had been asked about the situation surrounding Morey before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had even spoken about it.
After Morey’s tweet gained international attention, China and its national basketball association cancelled several exhibitions and other deals with the Houston Rockets and the NBA.
Nike also jumped into the controversy by pulling all Houston Rockets merchandise from its outlets in China.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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