Chinese Basketball Association won’t work with Houston Rockets after controversial tweet

CBA halts cooperation with team over ‘improper remarks’ by its general manager in social media post supporting Hong Kong’s protesters

Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning, Tencent’s online sports channel and the club’s sponsor in China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, all follow suit

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Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted an image on social media of the protesters’ rallying cry, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”. Photo: Twitter

Published: 9:44pm, 6 Oct 2019Updated: 1:11pm, 8 Oct 2019

The Chinese Basketball Association and several companies have suspended cooperation with American team the Houston Rockets after its general manager offered support for Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in a social media post.

After the CBA announced its move on Sunday, Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning followed suit, as did Tencent’s online sports channel, which broadcasts National Basketball Association games, and the club’s sponsor in China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. All of them called for the NBA team to give a clear response on the matter.

The Rockets are very popular among China’s NBA fans, especially after the team drafted Chinese basketball star Yao Ming in 2002. Yao played eight seasons with the Rockets until he retired in 2011.

“The Chinese Basketball Association strongly disagrees with the improper remarks by [Rockets general manager] Daryl Morey, and has decided to suspend exchanges and cooperation with the team,” the CBA, chaired by Yao, said in a statement on its official account on Weibo, China’s Twitter.

The post garnered more than 156,000 likes within three hours.

Yao Ming played eight seasons with the Houston Rockets. Photo: AP

The hostile response from mainland China came after Morey posted an image on Twitter of the protesters’ rallying cry, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”. He later deleted the tweet, replacing it with an image of Tokyo, where the Rockets will face the Toronto Raptors in a preseason game this week.

But the initial post had already been picked up by Chinese state media outlets including Global Times and People’s Daily and was being widely circulated on Weibo.

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