A crowd of Hong Kong freedom protesters took to the streets to burn LeBron James jerseys after he said Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey “wasn’t educated” in his support of them.
“People are angry,” James Lo, a NBA fan in Hong Kong, told the Associated Press on Tuesday. Lo was part of a group of around 200 people who chanted profanities about James while they trampled and lit several of his jerseys on fire.
“Students, they come out like every weekend. They’ve got tear gassed and then they got gun-shot, like every weekend. Police beating students and then innocent people, like every day. And then he (James) just comes up with something (like) that. We just can’t accept that,” Lo added.
James, 34, critiqued both free speech and Morey for supporting Hong Kong in comments to reporters on Monday night.
“I don’t want to get into a … feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke,” the NBA star said.
He added that freedom of speech can be “negative” sometimes, while also lamenting the financial “harm” of Morey’s comments.
Morey touched off a feud between the NBA and China when he tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters. The NBA responded by cutting business ties with the Rockets and threatening the NBA if players and league officials tried to continue to speak out on Hong Kong.
People in the crowd said James’ comments made it appear he cared more for money than about people.
“James was trying, you know, to take a side, on the China side, which is like ridiculous,” a 36-year-old attendee said. “He was being honest, financially. Financial is money. Simple as that. LeBron James stands for money. Period.”
William Mok, who addressed the crowd of protesters, said James and NBA players should use their social justice platforms to also support Hong Kong.
“Please remember, all NBA players, what you said before: ‘Black lives matter.’ Hong Kong lives also matter,” he said as the crowd applauded.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a veiled threat against Hong Kong freedom protesters on Sunday, saying anyone who attempted “to split China” would “end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.”
