LeBron James made a shocking statement late Monday night, attacking the Houston Rocket’s Daryl Morey for his tweet supporting the Hong Kong protesters against Chinese government oppression.
Morey’s tweet, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” kicked off the controversy with China, with the Communist government reacting back against the NBA and revealing how deeply the Chinese control of speech has influenced American companies and entities like the NBA.
https://youtu.be/tyiHdRVQImM
“We talk about freedom of speech, yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but, at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others, you’re only thinking about yourself,” James said.
“So I don’t believe, I don’t want to get into a word, or sentence, feud with Daryl, with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed, not only financial, but physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet, what we say, and what we do,” he declared.
“Even though yes, we do have freedom of speech, there can be a lot of negatives,” James declared.
He criticized Morey for allegedly being “uneducated” on the subject, after saying he, James, wasn’t sufficiently educated enough on the “political side” to make a comment on the substance of the question.
“When you’re misinformed or you’re not educated about something – and I’m just talking about the tweet itself – you never know the ramifications that can happen. We all see what that did, not only did for our league but for all of us in America, for people in China as well. Sometimes you have to think through the things that you say that may cause harm not only for yourself but for the majority of people. I think that’s just a prime example of that.”
Did James think through the consequences of what he just said?
One would think not. Because what a horrible response to someone supporting human rights, how against American free speech James’ remarks are, seemingly in order to appease China. James’ response exposes just how deep the problem is. And he seems to repeat the NBA’s “talking points” on the subject, that he doesn’t know enough to talk about the substance.
James then tried to “clarify” on Twitter, only making it worse.
Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Sorry that people defending the protesters of Hong Kong who have been beaten, locked up, blinded, shot in the chest and had their rights taken away didn’t think about your hard week, LeBron. How inconsiderate of them.
James’ words infuriated Americans.
He probably follows you on Twitter and felt like this was good advice. pic.twitter.com/EiaHcqdiDZ
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) October 15, 2019
You know who *actually* had a difficult week, @KingJames?
The Uyghurs in Chinese “re-education” camps
Just like every other week, for them
Stop bowing to China, LeBron. pic.twitter.com/MPYREtdSSB
— Will Chamberlain 🇺🇸 (@willchamberlain) October 15, 2019
LeBron: My team and this league just went through a difficult week.
Millions of Uyghurs, Falun Gong, Buddhists, Democracy activists in China: Hold my chains
— Mike Chen 🍜🔥 (@mikexingchen) October 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/alx/status/1183972537870569472
We are having “difficult months” here just because we have our own values and we support human rights and democracy. #FightForFreedom pic.twitter.com/FX4MT6Jkt0
— Miss Peachy 🇭🇰👸🏻 (@hkpeachy) October 15, 2019
— Neil Tan (@NeilTan79) October 15, 2019
It’s a battle between individual freedom and state repression. Is it really Daryl Morey who is poorly informed about the situation, @KingJames ? pic.twitter.com/5eUVd6JBMH
— Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) October 15, 2019
From Fox News:
“Having just been in Hong Kong – on the streets & with the protestors – this kind of garbage is hard to take,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Ms., tweeted. “LeBron, are YOU educated on ‘the situation’? Why don’t you go to Hong Kong? Why don’t you meet the people there risking their lives for their most basic liberties.”
Hawley added: “This statement is unbelievable. ‘So many people could have been harmed’? By Daryl Morey daring to express sympathy for democracy? News flash: people ARE being harmed – shot, beaten, gassed – right now in Hong Kong. By China. By the Communist Party the NBA is so eager to appease.”
Dan Wolken, a writer for USA Today, wrote a column calling the episode the most “disgraceful moment” of James’ career.
“If only Morey had done what you did Monday, LeBron, and tacitly admit that the only thing that really matters is your ability to sell shoes and market ‘Space Jam 2’ in a country of 1.4 billion, we could have had an intellectually honest discussion about doing business in China and the cost of free speech in a country where only propaganda is tolerated,” he wrote.
Perhaps one of the most striking responses to James was from Turkish-born Boston Celtics player, Enes Kanter, who, while not specifically mentioning James in his tweet, listed the things he, Kanter, had gone through for speaking out against the repressive government of Turkey’s Recep Erdogan.
Wow dude! 🤦🏻♂️
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 15, 2019
-Haven’t seen or talked to my family 5 years
-Jailed my dad
-My siblings can’t find jobs
-Revoked my passport
-International arrest warrant
-My family can’t leave the country
-Got Death Threats everyday
-Got attacked, harassed
-Tried to kidnap me in IndonesiaFREEDOM IS NOT FREE
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 15, 2019
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