While the connections between the NBA and China have been obvious for a long time, the basketball league has done a fairly effectively job of side-stepping criticism. That’s largely been possible because of a compliant media, which doesn’t dare criticize an organization so committed to “social justice.” Lebron James, for example, has been allowed to continually not answer questions about China’s abuses even as he proclaims himself a leader in the “anti-racist” movement.

But that may be about to change. The biggest scandal in the league’s history has just dropped and it’s directly connected to human rights abuses in China.

ESPN just dropped an atomic bomb on the NBA’s China relationship. Story alleges NBA turned blind eye to massive human rights abuses & league’s own camps looked like they were from Nazi Germany. NBA also told employees not to comment on China for story. https://t.co/tjOcaOtjtz

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 29, 2020

WHOA… ESPN REPORTS…

In search of the next Yao Ming, the NBA opened a player development academy in Xinjiang — where most athletes were Uighurs.

The Chinese government ran the facilities and the coaches physically beat the players.https://t.co/jNYgvP5Vjx

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) July 29, 2020

This is not a small deal that ESPN reported this.

The network has a massive television deal with the NBA worth billions, and business interests in China of its own.

The network is also on the NBA China board of directors.

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) July 29, 2020

Until now, the league and its players have tried to distance themselves from the communist state, playing it off as a foreign issue they can’t control. They are just there to play basketball, right? Except, these camps are NBA sanctioned and the abuse happened directly under NBA control.

What does Lebron James have to say about this? Well, we don’t know because the players have been told not to comment. Is that the kind of behavior you’d expect from a league that’s innocent?

In hindsight, this may explain the disposition of some NBA owners and players. It seems probable they knew this was happening and that it would eventually become public. A few weeks ago, Mark Cuban tied himself into knots to avoid talking about China’s malfeasance while arguing with Ted Cruz. Was the CCP using these revelations of abuse to keep everyone from criticizing the regime? I don’t know, but it would explain why owners, players, and coaches have gone to such great lengths to not talk about Hong Kong or the Uighurs

Of course, if an NBA owner, player, or coach allowed themselves to be muzzled like that in the face of such abuses, it would only be that much worse. Meanwhile, others in the media are helping the NBA sweep this all under the rug. We got this garbage last night after the ESPN story broke.

For the NBA, it's time to play, kneel and demand change at a time when the push for racial equality is as loud as it has been in generations.

Story, video @bytimreynolds >> https://t.co/CizIj8rTRO pic.twitter.com/8SEs2M6rrt

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 30, 2020

They are all about equality and stuff except when it comes to abuses in NBA camps in China, Hong Kong being oppressed, and Uighurs being sent to concentration camps.

CNN also did an at length interview with the NBA commissioner yesterday. Not a single question about China was asked by supposed journalist Wolf Blitzer.

Appalling: CNN’s Blitzer refused to ask Adam Silver about the NBA's fealty to China AND his support for Biden https://t.co/PgZfoIzkOY

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 30, 2020

In the end, the divisions in this country are so strong that the NBA may get away with this. If you toe the “woke” line as the NBA does, kneel for the anthem, and have people like Lebron James proclaiming to care about racism, you get a free pass from most things. Perhaps that pass won’t apply to abuses in their own camps in China, but I suspect it will.

UPDATE: 

Some commenters are pointing out that ESPN is burying their own story, with it not even appearing on the front page of their NBA site. That appears to be the case and is a good observation. ESPN has perpetrated wokeness for a long time and it’s no surprise they find random, almost irrelevant news worthy of placement over this story. They have business interests to protect.