The NBA Fan Silenced for Protesting China Speaks Out
‘These are not American values’
The NBA’s China controversy has made protestors out of its fans.
A tweet from Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey expressing his support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong prompted sharp condemnation from Chinese authorities and an apology from the NBA for Morey’s “regrettable” language. (Not long after the NBA weighed in, Morey’s original tweet was deleted.) The backlash to the league’s refusal to side with Morey was swift. Even when league commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday the NBA would not censor its employees, he still refused to condemn China for its crackdown in Hong Kong.
In response, fans have taken the protest into their own hands. One such fan, Jon Schweppe took aim at Beijing from inside the Washington Wizards arena on Wednesday night. He and a group of friends unfurled a “Free Hong Kong” sign, which was confiscated by security guards. Schweppe filmed the encounter and posted it to Twitter, where it quickly went viral fueling more outrage that the NBA is coddling China’s government over free speech.
