And a bit of other news too
The Memphis Grizzlies played the New Zealand Breakers in an exhibition game Tuesday and it was interesting on many fronts.
First it was played in the shadow of the NBA’s dispute with China, an argument pitting China’s desire to repress dissent against the American tradition of free speech (this was sparked by Houston GM Daryl Morey, who retweeted an endorsement of the Hong Kong protests, an act that while typically American, has had significant repercussions for the NBA).
Second, it marked the first NBA competition for both celebrated rookie Ja Morant and former high school star RJ Hampton, who is now playing for the Breakers.
And third, it was the second time former Blue Devils Grayson Allen and Tyus Jones suited up for Memphis and the first game Jones played knowing that his mom, Debbie, was cancer free.
Jones had a solid game, shooting 6-10 with five assists in 23 minutes. Allen hit 6-14 and added five rebounds and three blocks. Sounds like a solid outing for both guys. And in the exhibition opener against Haifa, Allen did this.
As for Hampton, he’ll surely get better and he would be a high school senior if he had stayed in the US. So shooting 1-8 against an NBA team is no big surprise. He did have six rebounds which is solid.
Morant was 5-8 against Haifa and just 2-6 vs. the Breakers. However he had 10 assists and five rebounds Wednesday and 10 assists is good for anyone.
As for the NBA’s little problem, there just comes a point where you have to decide what’s your priorities are. A lot of sponsors (including quite a few Chinese sponsors) have decided that China’s point will carry the day but Adam Silver, after an uncertain initial response, has said that the NBA is not going to demand that Morey toe anyone else’s line but his own: “I want this to be clear, and I think there’s been some confusion around this: We are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression.”
After Colin Kaepernick’s political protest led to controversy in the NFL, the NBA has consistently said that it will allow players to make political statements and protests as they like. It would be very hard to have that stand and not extend it to management as well.
That’s not to say the Rockets couldn't fire Morey - obviously they can if they choose - but the NBA is not going to be China’s enforcer and that’s good news.
There’s no need to get into a laundry list of issues between the US and China but there’s also no particular reason for any American to shut up because he might offend people in another country.
The Chinese will eventually have to accept that criticism is simply the price you pay to be a part of global culture. That doesn’t mean they have to accommodate critics. However, just as Morey might have avoided politics and kept life simpler for the NBA - we’re not saying he should have, just that it was a choice - the Chinese chose to take a simple retweet and turn it into a major issue. They could have simply ignored it and no one would have paid the slightest bit of attention.
Zero tolerance of criticism is not a sign of strength but of weakness.
