Houston Rockets’ Daryl Morey ‘meant no offence’ with Hong Kong protests tweet – but angry Chinese demand more

US basketball team’s general manager posts conciliatory comments after earlier tweet prompts Chinese sponsors and broadcasters to cut ties

Weibo users and state media call for further apologies as Rockets become the latest organisation to learn the cost of ‘hurting Chinese people’s feelings’

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Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had appeared to show support for Hong Kong anti-government protesters in his initial tweet. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00pm, 7 Oct 2019Updated: 1:08pm, 8 Oct 2019

Chinese internet users, state media and businesses have reacted with disdain after the Houston Rockets basketball team’s general manager Daryl Morey backtracked on Monday for his earlier tweet in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong and the NBA issued an apology.

“I did not intend my tweet to cause any offence to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China,” Morey wrote in a Twitter post on Monday morning. “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.”

Morey said that he “appreciated the significant support of [his] Chinese fans and sponsors”, adding that his tweets “in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA [the North American men’s basketball league].”

Morey posted an image, reading “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” – a slogan frequently used by the pro-democracy protesters – on Saturday before quickly deleting it.

The NBA also released a statement in English on Monday morning in a bid to contain the fallout from Morey’s earlier tweet, saying it was “regrettable” that Morey had “deeply offended” the NBA’s large Chinese fan base.