Some columnists argued the NBA should have anticipated controversy in its China dealingsGETTY IMAGES
The main question that needs to be asked of the NBA in light of the current China controversy is whether it knew "what it was doing by plunging head-first into a major business alliance" with the country, according to Bob Ryan of the BOSTON GLOBE. Or was the league being "naive when it assumed a rupture such as this was never going to happen?" The NBA has been "blinded by the money." Ryan: "Who wouldn't be? But was getting in bed with China risky to begin with?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/11). In San Antonio, Mike Finger writes "no matter how you look at" the NBA-China controversy, one has to "acknowledge that this was foreseeable" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 10/11). In Miami, Greg Cote wrote the NBA "would tell you that, beyond being enriched by the business arrangement, its relationship with China helps build global bridges and bring the world closer." Cote: "But the relationship also is this: It is a major, immensely popular U.S. sport lending credibility to China -- to everything China stands for." It is "almost as if, in exchange for the business windfall, the NBA is OK being used as a sort of propaganda tool, one that gives oppressive China a Western stamp of approval" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/10).
MOMENT OF REFLECTION: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote it is "open season on the NBA" with this controversy. Players and coaches can "argue that it isn't their job to speak up on everything (fair enough), or that they are focused on issues that concern their communities (reasonable), or that they aren't comfortable weighing in on foreign affairs (understandable)." However, "perception is reality, and the real perception is they look like hypocrites" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/10). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde writes the NBA "always touted itself as better" and players in recent years "have taken up social causes in ways that hit at core principles but didn't really affect their bottom line." However, the China controversy "really hits the owners and players partnership." The league that has been the "voice of social progress in recent years found the limits of such ideals" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 10/11). In Hartford, Kevin Rennie writes the NBA has been "proud of its players and coaches expressing themselves on public issues." One of those "controversies has become, which nation does that N in NBA stand for?" (HARTFORD COURANT, 10/11). In Charlotte, Peter St. Onge writes the NBA -- along with other companies -- "should take a harder look at the relationships they have with countries and people who do awful things." St. Onge: "So should a lot of us" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/11).
RETURN TO SENDER: SI's Chris Mannix appeared on "OTL" to discuss a letter from members of Congress urging the NBA to take a harder stance on China. Mannix said, "The NBA, after that initial response, has done exactly the right thing and I think Congress, frankly, needs to find some better things to do." Mannix said the NBA received the letter, and not other companies doing business in China, because the league "right now is a low-hanging fruit." He said, "You've got to remember that NBA players have been very vocal on social issues over the last few years. They've taken some strong stances and painted some politicians into a corner with some of those stances. So, if some politicians feel like they have an opportunity to hit back on this, that's a part of the reason why some of them have reached out" ("OTL," ESPN, 10/10).
