Hawley renews criticism of NBA commissioner Adam Silver for league’s ties to China
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley continued his criticism of the NBA and its relationship with China on Tuesday, accusing Adam Silver of putting profits over principle after the NBA commissioner made an appearance on “Citizen by CNN.”
Specifically, Silver was asked by journalist Bob Costas: “How does the NBA — league of social justice — reconcile its ongoing relationship with a major and brutal human rights abuser like China?”
Silver said the league, for 40 years, had been operating in China at the encouragement of Democratic and Republican administrations. Silver’s belief was that the relationship was viewed, until recently, “as a very positive thing that we were exporting American values to China through the NBA.”
“There are definitely trade-offs there, and somebody could say, ‘Given the system of government in China, you — the NBA — should make a decision not to operate there,” Silver told Costas. “I would only say, at the end of the day, I would say those are decisions for our government in terms of where American businesses should operate.”
Silver also discussed the NBA being pulled off state-wide Chinese television after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong protests. Though the NBA could have pulled away from its relationship with the country then, Silver said, it was his view that “it’s been net positive to not move to disengagement. That that’s not good for the world, and that superpowers like the U.S. and China, need to find ways to continue to operate together.”
Hawley used those words against Silver in a tweet posted Tuesday.
“Adam Silver just comes right out and says it: NBA’s relationship with China involves ‘trade offs’ but overall is a ‘net positive.’ And by ‘net positive,’ he means billions of dollars for the NBA and by ‘trade offs,’ he means slave labor,” Hawley said.
Hawley sent out a press release in July blasting the league’s decision to limit social justice messages that were allowed on the backs of players’ jerseys. In particular, Hawley believed NBA players should be allowed to wear phrases that supported police officers or Hong Kong protesters in addition to those approved that highlighted racial inequality.
That press release also led to a short suspension of ESPN writer Adrian Wojnarowski, who replied to an email from Hawley’s staff with an expletive.
