SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 10: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets and LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers shake hands at center court before a preseason game as part of 2019 NBA Global Games China on October 10, 2019 at Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Charania: Inside what went on among Nets and Lakers players on the ground in China amid the NBA-China conflict

Shams Charania
Oct 14, 2019

It all started with just one Tweet.

In the end, the ramifications of just that one action have resulted in an international incident that has involved everyone from the president of the United States to NBA players and coaches from around the league. But, perhaps even more than the team whose official started it all, no NBA teams have been impacted more directly by this situation than the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, who were slated to play two exhibition games in China in the direct aftermath of it all.

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As the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets descended upon China early last week, the repercussions from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s pro-Hong Kong Twitter post started to form. Morey had sparked an international incident — a crisis for the NBA and its players and teams — as the post had struck a nerve with China, the league’s largest market outside of the United States. It left two sets of teams abroad to deal with the situation away from the U.S.: the Lakers and Nets in China, and the Toronto Raptors and Morey’s Rockets in Japan.

What follows is an account of what went on, behind the scenes, among league officials, players and coaches on the ground in China, during their tension-filled time in the middle of the NBA-China conflict.


The most seminal moment of a week full of chaos, volatility and confusion came on Oct. 9, when NBA commissioner Adam Silver met with both teams and that meeting was immediately followed by a players-only discussion among both teams.

Silver arrived in Shanghai last Wednesday and addressed both the Nets and Lakers in the afternoon, explaining the complications that had spread in China as a result of Morey’s tweet. Silver himself had addressed the world via a full statement and press conference from Japan on Oct. 8, supporting Morey’s freedom of expression and saying he would travel to Shanghai to meet with Chinese officials including Chinese Basketball Association chairman and former Rockets star Yao Ming. ESPN first reported that Silver spent time speaking to the Lakers and Nets together in China.

Silver was said to be extremely thoughtful and transparent with Lakers and Nets players, coaches and executives present. He discussed that he believed players should face the media and support the league’s openness toward freedom of expression, wanting to open the room up for discussion and an open-minded approach toward the situation, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting.

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The concern among those in the room, sources have told The Athletic, was that the Chinese government had limited Silver from speaking publicly while in Shanghai by cancelling his press conference at the arena and thus the onus would have been thrust onto the players to carry the torch for the league.

Lakers star LeBron James spoke up in front of everyone in the room and stated he believed that Silver and the NBA needed to explain and articulate the situation first, before the players would have to, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Athletic. James expressed concern that without the league being able to speak to media to address all of the questions and dynamics about China and the NBA, it was unfair for solely players to bear that responsibility.

James stated that he felt that both teams and all of the players were in this together, and that whatever they decided upon they should stick together, according to sources.

Those sources also said that James explained to everyone in the room that he felt it would be unfair for Lakers and Nets players to explain this international issue in Shanghai before the NBA did — for several reasons: Their safety in a foreign country in China, the challenges of having young players on both rosters being thrust into a position of having to speak publicly about such a complex and layered topic and the added complication that the U.S. is currently embroiled in a trade negotiation with China.

The stakes were high and the players were suddenly being asked to carry a significant part of the burden.

“Adam deserves a lot of credit because instead of forcing these players in front of cameras in China, he worked with everyone in the room and heard them out,” one person involved in the meeting said.

James understood many players were not in a position to attack the questions head on, and led the joint players-only meeting after their session with Silver where the same concepts were discussed among all 38 Lakers and Nets players on the trip to China.

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“Why are we the ones to go through the risks of speaking out in China when the league should be the first to address the matter, with our voices to follow?” said one source with knowledge of the meeting and the players’ thinking in regard to James’ message.

They discussed making sure they felt safe and protected without thrusting themselves in unfair positions, sources said. Nets star guard Kyrie Irving and Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma joined James in speaking during the players-only meeting, sources said.

For Lakers and Nets players, the issue was not protecting their own individual financial interests in China as much as it was about staying out of an international trade war. As well as not having to deal with the consequences in China from a team executive’s tweet, plus not having to speak about international issues when the objective of the trip had been continuing to push the game of basketball in China.

“Being in China, where there was no way of knowing what the Chinese government was thinking or going to do next and the high stakes between the U.S. and China politically, it was almost impossible for these young players to manage through that situation,” a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Athletic. “Obviously, if they were in the United States or somewhere else, it would have been totally different and handled differently.”

By the time everyone reconvened, league officials, team executives, coaches and players all understood the importance of safety and protecting one another during a most turbulent time.


Going into Silver’s meeting, and the players-only session that followed, the pressure from China had been building.

On Oct. 6, two days after Morey’s Tweet, China started to make small moves in cutting ties with Houston and the NBA. China and its federation began cutting ties with the Rockets by dropping all television streaming, sponsorships and partnerships and having the Chinese Basketball Association halt any cooperation with the franchise. China’s consulate in Houston also released a statement that Sunday, saying it was “deeply shocked” by Morey’s “erroneous comments” and urging the Rockets to “correct the error and take immediate concrete measures to eliminate the adverse impact.”

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Morey and the NBA both released statements on the evening of Oct. 6, with neither apologizing outright but expressing a level of regret and openness for discussing and sharing ideas.

“China is beginning to make small power plays,” one high-ranking NBA team official told The Athletic that day.

It continued.

By Oct. 7, China was still pulling its sponsors with the NBA as a whole, and made another move on the league. The Chinese basketball federation canceled the NBA G League’s two exhibition games in China in late October — featuring Morey’s Rockets affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, against the Dallas Mavericks’ affiliate, the Texas Legends. Twenty-four players had committed to the Chinese G League exhibitions, 12 on each team.

Both Rio Grande Valley and Texas players were set to train in their respective G League city from Oct. 10-14, travel to stay and play in China from Oct. 14-21, and earn $4,000 each plus per diem, sources told The Athletic. So Morey’s Tweet, and in turn China’s response, eliminated 24 players’ ability to find a job elsewhere as they had committed to the exhibition games … plus it cost them nearly $100,000 total.

On Oct. 8, tensions continued to rise when China’s main television stations, CCTV and Tencent, announced they were suspending broadcasts of NBA games and existing partnerships.

Curiosity stretched across the NBA entering Oct. 9. Teams started calling the league office wondering about potential financial ramifications of lost money. Player agents began poking around with the National Basketball Players Association about how much lower the salary cap could go and about how much their players could lose in shortfall money.

“It could be anywhere from a few million off the salary cap, or more,” one high-ranking team official said. “It’s all up in the air.” The Athletic’s John Hollinger also analyzed the potential impact this situation could have on the salary cap.

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As for the two preseason games between the Lakers and Nets in China, they appeared to be in grave jeopardy because the Chinese government had the capability to cancel them as they had the other events.

Among both teams, no one wanted to do much of anything until Silver arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday. The Chinese government had shut down NBA Cares events for both teams and removed its vendors and sponsors from the exhibition games.

Sources told The Athletic that several Lakers and Nets players lost money over broken deals in Shanghai that involved sponsorship appearances. China was fully halting business with the NBA and its players. As The Athletic’s Bill Oram reported from Shenzhen, Kyle Kuzma was set to announce new sponsorship deals while in China, but they were scrapped once the team arrived in Shanghai because of the controversy.

This coincides with what happened to the Rockets. Sources told The Athletic that at least two Houston players had sponsorship negotiations stall out in China after the impact of Morey’s post began to spiral.

Waking up on Oct. 9, the day of the meetings, Lakers and Nets players witnessed promotional posters and banners being removed in the streets and buildings across Shanghai. Most of them were getting alerts on their phones about trade wars and negotiations between the U.S., and China. During this time there was a sizable amount of Lakers and Nets players internally feeling that the games should not go on due to all of the chaos, sources said.

(Photo by Liu Jianmin/VCG via Getty Images)

“Scary and weird at the same time,” one team source told The Athletic that day. “It’s looking bleak for us to play.”

“Why are we even playing these games anymore?” another person connected to one of the teams said.

Of course, they were there to play, and the reality is that the possibility of refusing to play never gained any serious traction among the players themselves. After Wednesday’s spirited meeting between Silver and both organizations, and the joint players-only meeting, everyone was at ease with moving forward to play.


The games went on as scheduled. A compromise of sorts was reached as Silver and the players and coaches agreed to play out both games minus placing themselves open to questions about a geopolitical issue.

The Nets and Lakers traveled to Shenzhen on Friday and played on Saturday. Brooklyn won both games in China, and by the time the second game ended, players and coaches were relieved to be past such a tumultuous saga and ready for the long flight home. This was not supposed to be how the Lakers and Nets spent their week in China — following an offseason in which L.A. acquired Anthony Davis and Brooklyn landed Irving and Kevin Durant.

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So, what happens next?

According to sources, Morey did not expect his tweet to implode the way it did. He has returned to business for the Rockets, making two transaction moves last week in releasing former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett and claiming forward Ray Spalding off waivers. The Rockets are also now dealing with an injury to key rotation player Gerald Green, who is feared to be sidelined a few months because of a broken left foot.

Multiple league front-office and ownership sources tell The Athletic that they believe Silver will be able to regain a foothold in the NBA-China relationship but fear irreparable losses for the Rockets in the indefinite future. The NBA and Rockets have supported Morey’s freedom of expression, and both decided not to discipline him. 

Hard to believe it all started with just one Tweet.

(Top Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Shams Charania

Shams Charania is the Senior NBA Insider for The Athletic. He is also an NBA analyst for Stadium. From 2015-18, Shams was the national NBA Insider for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shams on Twitter @ShamsCharania