Chinese basketball fans said they might no longer support the NBA if the feud between the basketball league and their homeland continues.
“It’s O.K. to chase the star players,” Yezi Zhang, a basketball fan at the Thursday exhibition game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets in Shanghai, told the New York Times. “But we shouldn’t do it at the cost of the dignity of the motherland.” Zhang, 24, said she might stop going to NBA games if the league does not apologize.
The NBA came under the spotlight of the Chinese Communist Party after the Houston Rockets general manager tweeted support for Hong Kong freedom protests. China cut ties with the Rockets and have threatened their business with the NBA. State-run Chinese media said the differences between the two might be irreconcilable.
Despite suspending broadcast of NBA preseason games, the game between the Lakers and the Nets was allowed to continue.
Lin Wenwen, a 21-year-old Lakers fan in China, said the situation between the NBA and his homeland was “a shame.” He said he blamed, “The young losers in Hong Kong.” Chinese propaganda has caused many in the communist country to believe the Hong Kong freedom protests are an attack on China.
Mao Runkai, a fan of Lebron James, said supporting the freedom protesters was equal to racism. He also said he believed patriotism came above being a fan. “The issue of sovereignty is as serious as the issue of racism,” he said.
“Everyone is feeling very patriotic,” said Rong Qiang, a 40-year-old fan, adding he was willing to end his fandom of the NBA.
Both Daryl Morey and NBA commissioner Adam Silver apologized to China, but China is still furious about Silver saying he supports Morey’s freedom of speech.
The NBA has also drawn heat from U.S. fans after a series of controversial moves including kicking two fans out of a Philadelphia 76ers game in Philadelphia for bringing “Free Hong Kong” posters and shutting down a CNN reporter from asking a question about China at a press conference.
