Here’s Latest Details on LeBron James’ Meeting with Lakers, Nets in China

The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets played two preseason games in Shanghai and Shenzhen, but the most important China meeting took place on Oct. 9.

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong, and China decided to suspend teams. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver tried to solve the problem, and the games were played. Silver also talked to the teams as confirmed by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

LeBron spoke up at the meeting as he wanted to ensure the NBA takes the initiative on any messaging.

“Why are we the ones to go through the risks of speaking out in China when the league should be the first to address the matter, with our voices to follow?” he said.

Kyle Kuzma and many other players lost sponsorship opportunities over the incident Morey caused. NBA Cares events were canceled, too.

“There was a sizable amount of Lakers and Nets players internally feeling that the games should not go on due to all of the chaos,” Charania added.

According to Saheli Roy Choudhury of CNBC.com, “thousands of Hong Kongers have protested for four months over anxiety about Beijing’s creeping influence over the city, which the British handed over to China in 1997. Those protests have become increasingly violent.”

Former rockets great Yao Ming and current president of the Chinese Basketball Association cut his ties with the Rockets.

The NBA was criticized from those supporting the Hong Kong protests following its official statement released on Oct. 6:

“We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable. While Daryl has made it clear that his tweet does not represent the Rockets or the NBA, the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them. We have great respect for this history and culture of China and hope that sports and the NBA can be used as a unifying force to bridge cultural divides and bring people together.”

Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke and Republican Senator Ben Sasse discussed the NBA’s response. Senator Josh Hawley also responded to the NBA Commissioner.

Silver released an additional statement Tuesday as confirmed by Charania.

“The NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say,” Silver said. “We simply could not operate that way.”

“I do know there are consequences from freedom of speech; we will have to live with those consequences,” he told reporters. “For those who question our motivation, this is about far more than growing our business.”

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