China bans the NBA over Hong Kong remarks

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I have seen a lot of news lately from various outlets and on Steemit about the Hearthstone player that got banned because he was showing support for the protesters in Hong Kong. I guess because the majority of sites I visit are tech sites, that makes sense.

This story actually came to my attention as I was watching the evening news the other night.

In tweet that has now been deleted, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey expressed his support for the protests that are happening in Hong Kong. In a move that can only be described as "typical", the Chinese government has chosen to censor the preseason games that are being played in China.

That's right, there will be zero broadcasting or streaming of the games at all. I know that is hard thing to understand for those of us that live in democratic countries (especially the US). We have become so used to entertainment and news being available 24/7 on demand that it is hard to comprehend things being censored from us.

Additionally, several of the Chinese businesses that have ties with the Rockets have chosen to suspend their dealings with the team.

The other thing I find really interesting about this story is the fact that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who was no doubt sent in to smooth things over has defiantly stood against China stating that he fully supports Morey's right to free speech under the first amendment.

I have a feeling the NBA isn't too worried about a couple of preseason games, but given the reach of Chinese businesses these days, this could be an ongoing issue that has far more impact than we can see right now.

Here is one of the news stories about it