A man hands out national flags to others arriving for the NBA preseason game to be held at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. All media events such as news conferences have been canceled inside the arena hosting Thursday's NBA preseason game in China between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, though the matchup itself remains on as scheduled. (AP Photo)
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
In response to the NBA defending Daryl Morey's freedom of speech, Chinese officials took it away from the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets.
All of the usual media sessions surrounding the Lakers-Nets preseason game in Shanghai on Thursday — including a scheduled news conference from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and postgame news conferences with the teams — have been canceled. It's the latest salvo in the rift between the league and China stemming from a since-deleted tweet posted last week by Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets.
"There will be no media availabilities for tonight's game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers," the NBA said in a statement Thursday, released a few hours before the game.
The game was held as scheduled, with Lakers forward LeBron James and Nets guard Kyrie Irving getting loud ovations when they were introduced as starters. But neither national anthem was played before the game, and no players addressed the crowd before tip-off in a departure from tradition before such international games. Fans arriving at the arena to watch — many of them donning NBA jerseys — were handed small Chinese flags to carry with them inside, and at least one person carried a sign critical of Silver.
"I understand that there are consequences from that exercise of, in essence, his freedom of speech," Silver said at a news conference in Tokyo earlier this week. "We will have to live with those consequences."
And this move was one of those consequences.
Most seats were filled, and fans reacted as they would normally — oohs and aahs for good plays, applause for baskets, the loudest cheers coming whenever James touched the ball. Some fans may be upset with the NBA, but they still seem to have their favorite players.
"If we have to choose, we will choose to support our country," said fan Ma Shipeng, who brought 900 flags to hand out to fellow fans. "We only like some particular basketball players, but we don't like NBA anymore. I give away Chinese flags tonight, as I hope people to put the national interest in front of following NBA. I will continue to support James. But none of our Chinese people would accept what Morey and Silver said."
Morey's tweet expressed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, and sparked fallout that has completely overshadowed the NBA's annual trip to China — which typically takes on a celebratory tone.
