Nets Play Final Game of Disastrous Trip To China Saturday
The Brooklyn Nets have been subjected to a tumultuous last week as they headed over to China to play the Los Angeles Lakers in two preseason games.
The NBA wishes all it had to deal with was two games in China, but instead what they found was a much more complicated issue on their hands than a game between two teams with high expectations entering the 2019-2020 season.
The NBA found itself in an unmitigated public relations disaster when Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted that the citizens of the world should stand with the protesters that have been demonstrating in Hong Kong against policies which were implemented by the Chinese government.
The Houston Rockets are considered to be the team of China because of former Houston Rockets Yao Ming playing for the team from 2002-2011. The fact that an employee of the Rockets sent the tweet made the issue more complicated for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Silver had a nearly impossible balancing act on his hands.
Since the Nets happened to be in China when the league was navigating a crisis, and the fact the Brooklyn Nets new owner Joseph Tsai is Chinese, left the team in a no-win situation.
Tsai put out a statement saying that he disagreed with the assertion from Morey that the demonstrations by the citizens of Hong Kong should be supported by the rest of the world.
All of this led to backlash toward Tsai for his statement, and a disaster for the NBA because they are selling their product to a repressive Chinese government. The narrative was that the NBA is more concerned with the almighty dollar than using their enormous platform to stand up for the voiceless in Hong Kong.
A back and forth earlier in the week led to NBA events being cancelled in China, television broadcasts being pulled, and the cancellation of media availability for players on both teams for the remainder of their time in the country.
The decision to cancel media availability was a decision made by the NBA in an effort to shield the players from having to answer questions about such a hot-button issue.
With the uncertainly surrounding the league's trip to China, two preseason games were still set to be played in China. After some debate the league decided to continue as planned with the two contests between the Nets and Lakers. This caused the NBA to get raked over the coals because many people thought the league should cut bait with the country following such a tough week and send both teams back to the United States.
The first game between the Nets and Lakers was on Thursday, and the Nets prevailed by a score of 114-111. Marquee free agent signing Kyrie Irving reaggravated his facial fracture after just playing one minute on Thursday. The injury is not thought to be a cause for concern for the Nets. As a precautionary measure Irving will not be suiting up for his new team on Saturday when they play the final game of their stay in China.
This NBA preseason trip has been a disaster in many ways, for both the league and its players. Both sides are hoping this issue dissipates when the teams return to the United States to prepare for the regular season which begins in just over two weeks.
