Jared Dudley defends LeBron James over Daryl Morey Hong Kong tweet criticism

NBA champion recounts stay in Shanghai as Houston Rockets GM’s support for Hong Kong protesters sparked international crisis

Defends teammate LeBron James for his criticism of tweet that left players unsure ‘if and when’ they would see their families

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Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley sits on the bench during the third quarter in game five of the Western Conference first-round play-off series against the Portland Trail Blazers at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020. Photo: TNS

Published: 5:11pm, 7 Feb 2021Updated: 5:11pm, 7 Feb 2021

Los Angeles Lakers veteran Jared Dudley has revealed that the team received death threats and were unsure of whether they would see their families again when they were trapped in China as then Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong protesters played out.

In his new book, Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine, released this week, Dudley also explained why teammate LeBron James was so critical of Morey, who posted “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” in October, 2019.

The fallout from the tweet put the near 40-year relationship between China and the NBA in jeopardy, with Morey’s new team the Philadelphia 76ers still absent from Chinese NBA streaming site Tencent and state television broadcaster CCTV.

Dudley was among the Lakers team who were in Shanghai at the time to play two preseason games in China against the Brooklyn Nets.

“Back in the United States, Houston GM Daryl Morey tweets out sentiments that the Chinese government takes as an attack. And we’re the most high-profile American citizens in China at the time. Now he’s made things very hot for us,” he wrote in the book published by Amazon Original Stories.

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