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Leagues and Governing Bodies

China Tones Down NBA Rhetoric To Protect Image Ahead Of '22 Games

Editors at Chinese state news outlets have told reporters to avoid emphasizing the NBA issueNBAE/GETTY IMAGES

The Chinese government "appears to be reassessing its campaign against the NBA and dialing down the clamor," as any backlash against the country "could hurt its image in the sporting world" ahead of the '22 Beijing Games, according to Bradsher & Hernandez of the N.Y. TIMES. The dispute with the NBA was also "quickly politicizing an audience of sports fans who would not normally focus on issues like the protests in Hong Kong." Editors at state news outlets have told reporters to "avoid emphasizing the NBA issue for fear that it might become overheated." The controversy "soon fell off the government-guided list of top 10 trending topics" on Chinese social media platform Weibo. Even the "highly nationalistic Global Times tabloid stopped pushing populist indignation" over Daryl Morey's tweet. A source said that the protests "may cause high-profile athletes and their fans around the world to pay attention to the Hong Kong protests for the first time, and their sympathies might lie with the protesters instead of Beijing." Additionally, tying sports "very closely to Beijing's handling of the Hong Kong protests may increase the risk of an international boycott" of the '22 Games (N.Y. TIMES, 10/11).

WALKING IT BACK: NBC's Janis Mackey Frayer reported the fact that Thursday's Nets-Lakers game in Shanghai was played as originally scheduled "is a sign there could be a truce" in the conflict between the NBA and China ("Nightly News," NBC, 10/10).In N.Y., Mozur & Qin write Nets-Lakers "could be the beginning of a thaw between the league and a country that accounts for a huge number of its fans." The "patriotic vitriol against the NBA appeared to subside online in China late on Thursday before the game began." Still, it was "not clear how long it might take for China and the NBA to fully resume their decades-long embrace" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/11). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Areddy & Cohen note China "appeared to tone down its rhetoric as the week progressed." A Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing "declined to comment on the NBA at a regular briefing on Wednesday and said Thursday that 'mutual respect' is important." He also "shifted attention toward a relatively low-ranking quasi-governmental organization, Shanghai Sports Federation, the body the government said actually ordered cancellation of an NBA fan-appreciation event on Wednesday over the league's 'inappropriate' statements and then greenlighted play on Thursday" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/11).

SIGN OF PROGRESS: ESPN's Rachel Nichols said Nets Owner Joe Tsai was "instrumental" in Nets-Lakers actually being played and he "did a lot of work behind the scenes brokering peace between the NBA and the Chinese government." ESPN's Richard Jefferson said playing the game was a "win" for the league and an "opportunity to get this whole thing behind us and to move forward" ("The Jump," ESPN, 10/10). ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said it "was significant" the game was played and it "made the teams, the league officials who are in China feel that the situation had been somewhat stabilized and that there's some cautious optimism" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 10/10).

MISSING PIECE: USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt notes Nets-Lakers was played "under muted circumstances" due to the controversy, but "making the situation worse was Yao Ming's conspicuous absence from the game in his hometown." A source said that Yao, who now runs the Chinese Basketball Association, was "not even in Shanghai, and has not met" with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in China. While Silver is "expected to attend Saturday's Lakers-Nets game in Shenzhen, the final stop during this preseason global tour, it is not known if he and Yao will meet as previously reported." The "best thing that can happen for the NBA now is to return" to the U.S. as Silver and the league "continue to try to mend fences" (USA TODAY, 10/11).

BIGGER ISSUE: ESPN's Bomani Jones believes an issue "much more important" that the NBA may have to deal with is "what happened at Capital One Arena" on Wednesday with arena security confiscating fans' pro-Hong Kong signs. Jones: "That is past, 'Hey Daryl, you're messing up the money.' Now you are basically taking what seems to be the Chinese ethos about these matters and importing it into the United States, and nobody can rationalize that" ("High Noon," ESPN, 10/10). However, SI's Chris Mannix noted that fan had his sign taken away not due to an NBA policy but because the arena "has a long-standing policy of no political signs" ("OTL," ESPN, 10/10).

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