Sports journalist Jason Whitlock slammed the NBA’s continued business relationship with China despite the communist country’s documented human rights abuses and argued it helps President Trump’s campaign.
“China is their No. 1 market that the NBA is interested in. America is not the NBA’s priority,” Whitlock said on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program Tuesday night. “China is. And that’s why, Tucker, I’m not very political at all. I’m just not. But with President Trump’s America First agenda, this is what he’s talking about. American companies.”
Whitlock continued: “The NBA being hijacked by foreign influence. This is what is happening to our country. I’m so glad it’s being exposed in the NBA. Because it’s an opportunity to educate the average American sports fan or whatever, so you can finally understand what this foreign influence is doing to our country. They have turned a patriotic cultural event into an anti-American protest in the NBA and to some degree, the NFL. We’ve got to put a stop to this.”
Whitlock was responding to a Megyn Kelly interview with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in which Cuban told Kelly that the NBA has to “pick its battles” when it comes to doing business with China.
“They are a customer of ours,” Cuban said. ”And guess what, Megyn? I’m OK with doing business in China. You know, I wish I could solve all the world’s problems, Megyn. I’m sure you do, too. But we can’t. And so, we have to pick our battles.”
Ratings for the recently concluded NBA Finals plummeted compared to years past, with only 6.028 million viewers tuning in for the final game of the series, down 66% from last year.
