Clay Travis had some strong words for the National Basketball Association as they they appeared to distance themselves from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, after the often outspoken GM made a tweet over the weekend that supported the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Relations between democratic Hong Kong and communist China have been incredibly tense since the British handed over ownership of the island back to the mainland of China in 1997. The autonomy of Hong Kong has been one of the most polarizing topics in East Asia.
The hostile geopolitics regarding the topic have put the NBA at an awkward juxtaposition, considering the Los Angeles Lakers will play the Brooklyn Nets in Shanghai on Thursday.
Chinese politicians and the Chinese Basketball Association obviously denounced Morey’s comments, as you would expect from the totalitarian government who has little respect for free thinkers from the United States, but Clay disagreed with the NBA appearing to show ‘regret’ for Morey’s support of Hong Kong.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta vehemently clarified that Morey’s opinions were not representative of the Rockets organization, and Rockets star James Harden even ‘apologized’ for the tweet from Morey.
Check out the audio above as Clay goes on an extended rant on the hypocrisy of the situation, as the NBA has often been celebrated for the progressive public stances of its athletes and coaches, yet is failing to support a notable league executive taking a stance that is almost unanimously supported in the United States.