ESPN released an explosive story on Friday alleging that in 2019, NBA star LeBron James went into a rage about the then-Houston Rockets general manager’s tweet supporting ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

“Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” former GM Daryl Morey tweeted. I would show you the tweet here, but as you’ll see, the backlash was swift, and it’s been removed. Chinese basketball officials quickly made their feelings known:

“We want to express our indignation and strong condemnation,” said a statement posted on the Twitter-like Weibo platform. “We have already stopped our cooperation with the Houston Rockets and continue to urge them to give a clear answer on this matter.”

LeBron, too, weighed in, predictably:

…at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you only think about yourself. I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke.

Morey had to bow to the pressure, even walking his stand for freedom back.

I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. 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.

One can only wonder if Morey was tied to a chair, with a bright light over his head and an NBA official standing behind him, as he dictated that statement.

The report has another new claim: that Taiwanese-born billionaire Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai wanted to get Morey fired over the tweet. (Tsai and the NBA have denied it.)

This new report will certainly not win any fans for LeBron, who is already the most hated player in the NBA. Why is it such a bad look? For one, he is considered a leading voice for social justice. How can a leading voice for social justice stay silent on the apparent genocide of the Ughyurs occurring in China? The authoritarian Communist government, the sweatshops?

After the George Floyd summer, the NBA went full-on social justice, including for the first time allowing slogans like “I Can’t Breathe” on uniforms. But mention China, and you might lose your job.

NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom (formerly Enes Kanter) is not afraid to speak out, as RedState’s Jennifer Oliver O’Connell reported.

XI JINPING and the Chinese Communist Party

Someone has to teach you a lesson,
I will NEVER apologize for speaking the truth.
You can NOT buy me.
You can NOT scare me.
You can NOT silence me.

Bring it on!! #FreedomShoes#XinnieThePooh pic.twitter.com/JFGEgIaXlN

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) October 24, 2021

Enes Kanter Freedom was cut in February by the Houston Rockets. Coincidence?

The question then is, why did LeBron go onto a rage about Daryl Morey’s tweet? Was it because of principle, a commitment to a better world, some other higher calling? Nope. It was about money.

According to the ESPN report, the rage was because LeBron’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” which has since earned a sad 4.6 out of 10 stars on IMDB, was in production. He wanted it to make huge bank in China upon release. Morey’s tweet threatened that.

LeBron and the NBA are all in for social justice and human rights. Except, of course, if it costs them money.