NBA is an ‘exporter of US values’ in China, says Adam Silver
- ‘I don’t mean to suggest that therefore their system of government will change because people watch NBA basketball,’ he says
- League commissioner looks back on 2020 where league dealt with Hong Kong tweet fallout, Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has described the league as “an exporter of American values” but said he is not naive enough to think that will cause a change in the Chinese government.
The 58-year-old said this in an interview with Bomani Jones of GQ published online on Monday, where the commissioner looked back on 2020 ahead of the new NBA season that begins later this month.
It was a year that began with the NBA knee deep in the aftermath of Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters and ended with the NBA returning to Chinese screens as the Los Angeles Lakers lifted the NBA championship in a game broadcast on state broadcaster CCTV.
China hung over the season but there were other issues for Silver to deal with.
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In between there was the Covid-19 pandemic, the league’s pause once players started testing positive in March and the NBA’s July restart in the bubble, which coincided with leaguewide support for the Black Lives Matter movement.