2020 started out uncomfortably for NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Back in October 2019, three weeks before the beginning of the season, Daryl Morey, the former general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted an image that said “FIGHT FOR FREEDOM / STAND WITH HONG KONG” in support of protesters who were demonstrating against a bill that would allow extradition to China. The tweet ignited a firestorm of controversy in the world’s most populous nation, which threatened a lucrative revenue stream for the league. As a rebuke of Morey, and to force the NBA to discipline him, Chinese state television stopped airing games for the duration of the regular season and well into the Finals.
