Daryl Morey's Hong Kong Tweet and the NBA in China

Timeline

1. Oct 4, 2019Morey tweets support for Hong Kong protesters and later deletes it.
2. Oct 6, 2019Morey and the NBA issue statements; the NBA calls the tweet "regrettable."
3. Oct 2019Chinese partners suspend ties; state TV drops two preseason games in China.
4. Oct 14, 2019LeBron James calls the tweet "misinformed."
5. Oct 17, 2019Silver says China asked the NBA to fire Morey and the league refused.
6. Oct 2020Morey leaves the Rockets.

The ethical issues

• Free expression: an employee's right to political speech.
• Commercial dependence on a market with limited freedoms.
• Consistency: leagues and athletes speaking on some issues but not others.
• Employer obligations to protect employees.
• Foreign government pressure on private organizations.

Stakeholders

Stakeholder	Interests & obligations
Daryl Morey	Freedom to speak and his job.
NBA players and staff	Safety and earnings.
NBA and teams	Revenue and values.
Chinese fans and partners	Their views and business.
Hong Kong protesters	Visibility for their cause.
U.S. politicians	Free speech and foreign influence.

The case

The NBA had built a major business in China, helped by the Houston Rockets’ selection of Chinese star Yao Ming in 2002.^[1] China was reported to account for about 10% of the league’s annual revenue.^[3]

Background

Morey was one of the league’s best-known executives. Hired by the Rockets as general manager in 2007, he was the first NBA general manager from a non-traditional, analytics background. Under him the team never had a losing record and posted the second-most wins in the league.^[1] The tweet was his first public expression of political views. It was posted while the Rockets were in Tokyo for the NBA’s Japan Games.^[1] According to Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri, Morey said he was reacting to a new Hong Kong law banning protesters from wearing masks.^[1]

The timing collided with the league’s China business. The Rockets had a deep following in China because of Yao Ming. Within days, Rockets merchandise was pulled from major Chinese e-commerce platforms, the Chinese consulate in Houston issued a statement of dissatisfaction, and all of the NBA’s mainland Chinese sponsors suspended or ended their deals.^[1] NBA Cares community events in Shanghai were cancelled.^[1]

The rules and governance

Morey’s speech was not governed by any published league rule on political statements. Silver said the Chinese government asked the league to fire Morey, and that the league refused even to discipline him.^[2][3] Silver’s position combined two principles: support for employees’ freedom of expression, and acceptance that Chinese businesses and the government also had a right to respond.^[1] Chinese state media criticized the league’s statements as insufficient because Morey himself did not apologize.^[1]

The tweet

On October 4, 2019, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image reading “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” supporting protesters there. He later deleted it.^[1][2] Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said Morey did not speak for the Rockets and that the team was not a political organization.^[1][4]

China’s response

The Chinese Basketball Association suspended its relationship with the Rockets, and Chinese businesses cut ties.^[1] China Central Television canceled broadcasts of two NBA preseason games in China between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.^[1][2] At China’s foreign ministry briefing on October 8, a reporter asked whether China was using its business influence to “manipulate free speech.” Spokesperson Geng Shuang did not answer directly. He said the Chinese consulate in Houston had “lodged solemn representations” to the Rockets over “the erroneous remarks made by the relevant person,” and that China’s position “couldn’t be clearer.” He urged attention to “the reaction of the ordinary Chinese people” and added that exchange and cooperation with China without knowledge of public opinion there “will not work.”^[7]

The NBA’s statements

On October 6, Morey posted a statement. “I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China,” he wrote. “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event.”^[2] The league’s first statement, issued on October 6 by its chief communications officer, said Morey’s views “have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable.” It noted that Morey had made clear the tweet did not represent the Rockets or the NBA. It said only that “the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them.”^[2][5] Politicians from both parties, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Cruz, signed a letter saying the league had “sold out an American citizen.”^[1] Critics contrasted the NBA’s caution with its support for players’ activism on racial justice in the United States.^[1]

On October 8, Silver issued a second statement that began by acknowledging the first had “left people angered, confused or unclear on who we are or what the NBA stands for.”^[6] He said the league brought its business “to places with different political systems around the world,” but that this was “about far more than growing our business.” Values of “equality, respect and freedom of expression have long defined the NBA,” he said. It was “not the role of the NBA to adjudicate” differences between Americans and Chinese. The key line was that the NBA “will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues. We simply could not operate that way.”^[6] At a news conference in Tokyo, a day before joining the Lakers and Nets in Shanghai, Silver said: “We are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression.”^[2]

On October 17, he said the Chinese government had asked the league to fire Morey: “We said there’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him.” He said losses were already “substantial” and the financial consequences “may continue to be fairly dramatic.”^[2][3] He also explained the first statement. The word “regrettable,” he said, was “modifying the fact that we’d upset our Chinese fans,” and “there was no regret directed to the [Chinese] government.”^[2] When he saw it being “misinterpreted,” he said, the league wanted to make clear that its values “travel with us wherever we go, and one of those values is free expression.”^[2]

The players

The Lakers and Nets were in China when the controversy broke. After returning, LeBron James said Morey was “either misinformed or not really educated on the situation.”^[3] He later clarified that he meant Morey had not considered how the timing would affect players, not that he was wrong about Hong Kong. Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong burned James jerseys.^[4]

Aftermath

The fallout spread to U.S. politics. President Donald Trump criticized NBA coaches who had criticized his own policies for their silence on China.^[1] Critics compared the league’s caution to a South Park episode, aired two days before the tweet, that parodied entertainment companies censoring themselves for the Chinese market.^[1] Morey left the Rockets in 2020 and became president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers in November 2020. He parted ways with the 76ers in May 2026.^[1]

The core dilemma

Morey expressed a widely held political view in a personal capacity. His employer’s business partner, backed by a foreign government, demanded consequences. How should a league balance an employee’s free expression, its business interests and its players’ safety?

Competing values

• Free expression vs. commercial interest.
• Employee protection vs. organizational risk.
• Respect for foreign audiences vs. support for human rights.
• Consistency vs. pragmatism in activism.

Strongest arguments

For the NBA’s caution: its players and staff were in China, it has millions of Chinese fans, and an executive’s tweet should not jeopardize everyone’s interests.

For a stronger defense: a league that encourages activism at home should not apologize when an employee supports democracy abroad. Bowing to pressure invites more.

Applying the frameworks

Rights

The rights lens centers on freedom of expression. Morey spoke as a private citizen in support of protesters seeking civil liberties. The lens asks whether an employer, or a league, may penalize such speech to protect business abroad, and whether the protesters’ own rights should weigh in the decision. Silver’s refusal to discipline Morey honored the right. The early statement calling the tweet “regrettable” seemed to qualify it.

Utilitarian

Consequentialists weigh the losses Silver called “substantial,” jobs and income tied to the China market, and the risk to players on tour, against the value of standing for free expression and the reputational cost of appearing to bow to pressure. The calculation depends on time frame and on whose welfare counts, including people in Hong Kong.

Virtue ethics

Virtue ethics asks what courage and integrity required of each actor. Morey spoke, then deleted his tweet. The league defended him while expressing regret. Players faced questions they had not chosen. The lens looks for consistency: an organization that praises activism at home invites scrutiny of its silence abroad.

Walk it through: the Simple Decision Model

1. Spot the issue. You are Adam Silver on October 6, 2019, as Chinese sponsors begin cutting ties and two teams are about to arrive in China. The stakeholders include Morey, the Rockets, players and staff in China, fans in China and the U.S., sponsors, broadcasters and the people of Hong Kong. The codes in play are the NBA constitution and the league’s stated values.
2. Gather facts. What do you know about the risks to players on tour? What business pressures might bias your statement? What do you not know about the Chinese government’s next steps?
3. Test options. Options: (a) a statement of regret that avoids defending Morey; (b) a clear defense of free expression without endorsing the content; (c) disciplining Morey to calm the situation. Weigh rights and integrity against financial and safety consequences.
4. Check codes and law. Test your choice for consistency with how the league responds to players’ activism in the United States. Would you be comfortable if both audiences read the same statement?
5. Decide and document. Record decisions about player safety and communications in China, and be ready to explain them.
6. Communicate and follow up. Speak directly to players, then to the public in both markets with one consistent message, and set a policy for future political speech.

What’s settled and what’s contested

• Settled: the tweet; China’s response; the NBA’s statements; Silver’s refusal to fire Morey.
• Contested: whether the NBA’s response was adequate; the long-term costs.

Why this case matters

The Morey episode showed how global sports businesses can be pressured by governments, and tested the consistency of athletes’ and leagues’ activism.

Key terms

Commercialization

The process of turning sport into a product and a business enterprise, with profit pressures that can compete with principle.

Brand as ethical promise

A brand is more than a logo: it is a promise to stakeholders about values and conduct, and it is broken when actions contradict it.

Agency

An athlete’s ability to make decisions and act independently about their body, career and voice.

Authenticity vs. PR spin

The tension between communicating truthfully and managing perception. Spin may protect a brand short term while eroding trust.

Definitions from the Ethics Cases glossary.

Discussion questions

1. Was the NBA's first statement an appropriate response? What should it have said?
2. Should an employer protect an employee whose speech causes major financial losses?
3. LeBron James called the tweet "misinformed," citing its effect on players in China. Was that a reasonable concern or an inconsistency in his activism?
4. How should leagues balance global business with the values they promote at home?
5. What does this case suggest about the limits of corporate activism?

Sources

1. Daryl Morey — Wikipedia
2. China asked NBA to fire Houston Rockets' GM Daryl Morey, commissioner says — National Post
3. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: Losses "Substantial" From China Controversy — Deadline
4. LeBron James, Enes Kanter and the NBA's China dilemma — Deseret News
5. NBA statement (Oct. 6, 2019) — NBA Communications
6. Adam Silver's statement on the NBA and China (Oct. 8, 2019) — NBA Communications
7. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on October 8, 2019 — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (via China Daily government portal)