. >> i don't want to get in word or sentence feud with darrel, but darrel morey, i believe he was notducated on the situation at hand. and he spoke. and so many people could have been harmed. not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually, be careful what we say, tweet, to, yes, we have freedom of speech but there is a lot of negative that come from us. david: having just been in hong kong with the protesters this garbage is hard to take. lebron james, you are educated on the situation? why don't you go to hong kong,? why don't you meet people there risking lives for most basic liberties. here is fox news headline, 24/7 sports reporter, jared max, dan woken in "usa today" calling this lebron's most disgraceful moment is it? >> maybe. time will tell. i think what is disgraceful that we really care what lebron james has to say, a line from highwafrom movie hoosiers. gods come pretty cheap now aday, you become one by putting a leather ball in a iron hoop. lebron james is the most greatest basketball in the world, he should remember that. if he were not able too future e th

shaq coming out, swinging in defense of darrel morey, the guy from the rockets who got the whole thingemocracy. and you know he is now saying, look, free speech is really important, he did this on nba opening night, i want your reaction. >> one of our best values in america is free speech. we're allowed to say what we want to say, and speak up about injustices, that is how it goes. if people don't understand that, that is something they have to deal with, darrel morey is right, when you see something wrong going on in the world, you should have the right to say, that is not right. trish: right? it was astonishing that nba shut him down so fast, and so many nba players. >> nba ledgeend shaquille o'neal was correct for his response to what is going on in hong kong. the nba collects billions of dollars in china. that is why they keep hush, yet you see nba players all of the time making comments about president trump and any other elected official in united states, as they have the right to do so, yet theytion thei -- n their own executive. trish: because they might lose billions, i get it

. >> you're okay with what darrell morey said >> he can say whatever he wants. >> drew rosenhaus joinsom miami. good to have you back. >> good to be here. >> i don't think we had a chance to touch on what silver and the league and what everyone has been through and whether or not that gets the season off on the wrong foot >> i think once they start playing basketball it will get back to what's going on on the court and not off the court. i'm not sure the fan is really too worried about what china thinks of the nba. i think they'll be focused on how many points their star players scored and who is winning and losing the games thankfully the games are here and we can put this controversy behind us. >> the fans may not care but the league cares about china and not upsetting whatever apple carts they built there what are they supposed to do stay silent on issues that other people think are worth speaking about? >> i do think it's very important that they support darrell morey and his right to express himself, his opinions about the freedoms and china and thing going on there i am glad the

last night, the basketball superstar said the houston rockets' general manager darrell morey was quotereally educated when he sent a tweet that supported hong kong's pro democracy movement. jonathan bigliotti is at the staples center in los angeles. lebron has taken a lot of heat. >> the lakers won here, but it was what lebron james said before the game began that's grabbing all the attention. lebron james considered one of the most influential stars in nba history, his four-year contract with the lakers, valued at $154 million but based on the reaction and there's been a lot of it, not everyin ague agrees with him. >> i believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand. >> lakers star, lebron james, criticized the decision by houston rockets gm darrell morey to support hong kong profitable relationship between the nba and china. >> so many people could have been harmed, not only financially business physically, emotionally. we have greed fareed om of speech, but there's negative that comes with it. >> morey tweeted an image that said fight with freedom. stand with hong kong. the twe

james spoke to the media for the first time since a tweet by rockets general manager darrell morey. angeles lakers star says the tweet could have endangered nba players in china. >> when you're misinformed or not educated about something, and i'm just talking about the tweet itself, you know, you never know what the ramifications that can happen. >> the lakers played in china last week. james said people could have been harmed not just financially but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. chinese companies pulled their sponsorships in a boycott of the nba after the tweet. yesterday james went on social media and said, "my team and this league just went through a difficult week. i think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others, and i believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. could have waited a week to send it." >>> "the times-picayune" says the hard rock hotel's search for a missing worker continues. unstable cranes and the damaged building loom as new threats. there's a possibility that not one but two badly damaged crimes -- cranes co

houston rockets following an uproar over this now deleted tweet from the team's general manager darrell morey supporting protests that have both angered and embarrassed china's communist government skg business estimate the 800 million watched nba programming last season in china where the rockets are one of the most popular teams thank to china's own yao ming several chinese businesses cut ties with the rockets. and despite its eshd reputation with social consciousness, the nba distanced itself with a statement calling the situation regrettable. a swift backlash leading to a quick walk back. >> you know, we love china, we love playing there >> reporter: and for morey himself, i did not intend my tweet to cause any offense the nba commissioner reinforcing the league's support for freedom of expression. but adding that economic impact is already clear republican and democratic lawmakers crying foul. t ont's unamerican tg people behalf of freedom. >> reporter: some republicans quick to condemn the nba while staying silent about president trump's latest overture to the communist regime the nba c

china reacted negatively after darrell morey, general manager of the houston rockets, tweeted supports and that tweet has since been deleted. darrell morey has apologized as what was perceived as criticism of the chinese government but now president donald trump is calling steve kerr a scared little boy after he chose not to answer question about the controversy. >> i watched the way that steve kerr and popovich and some of the others were pandering to china and for our own country, they don't respect it, like they don't respect it. what a difference. this is sad, very sad. to me, it's very sad. >> the nba canceled events leading to the games scheduled to be played in china and the nba commissioner said that they still expect the games to be played that are scheduled this week but chinese officials aren't saying whether the games will go on as scheduled. >>> we could see progress tomorrow with the dollars and cents. >> reporter: a short time ago, president donald trump tweeted out that he will meet with china's vice premier tomorrow and set it will be a big day of negotiations. when t

. >> this is what they call a troll mob after that infamous october 4th tweet from darrell morey, theyere was 168,000 responses in the six days afterward. october 4th to october 10th. what they found was 22% of the responses came from an account that had no followers. a zero. 55 percent from accounts with 13 or less, and he got 5,000 responses from twitter accounts that were tweeting for the very first time. so to them, that came from bots which could be one central authority, mainly from china. they think it is china's way of manipulating the conversation around the hong kong protest. but so then daryl morey, he put down the tweet an hour after he posted it. he knew that he offended somebody. but also posted an apology afterwards. can you imagine that the apology, there it is. that actually got four times the amount of response on twitter than the original tweet in the five hours afterwards. >> trace: it is amazing, because the nba really pushes the social justice comments, outspoken, they want them to speak out. what is twitter's response? >> i got in contact with them, and they said

silence, and ba's biggest james finally broke his islands over the fewer over the houston rockets darrell morey's tweet. silence would be preferable to this. >> i believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand and he spoke -- so many people could have been harmed not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually. >> laura: for the record, the uneducated morey is considered one of the smartest man in the league. a computer science degree from northwestern university and an mba from that little-known institution mit. morey clearly knows more than lebron about china's human rights abuses. we get it. lebron has many lucrative reasons to play ball with china. for starters, he signed a $1 billion lifetime nike endorsement, which heavily depends on selling gear continue chinese markets in the lot of nikes' merchandise over the years have been made by labor in china. but at least the nba players make a lot of money. and the space jam remake lebron stars in? that's going to debut in 2021. do not want to upset the apple cart with this revision deals on the line. but just say that instead o

. >> there was a report they were pressuring adam silver to fire darrell morey. i think that's when the american people will stand up and say were not having china. >> neil: what do you call their bluff in china. go with your own league. because that's what i said initially. china doesn't want the nba. >> neil: so that wasn't just my idea. >> 300 million people play basketball in china. the nba in china made a half a billion dollar agreement two years ago to enhance basketball. money in sales is what it's all about. i'm all about the protest. if it lasts all season? >> >> neil: we have more coming up including the falloutd about bouncing fortunes. what's going on with trade? are we going to see trade or not? after this. hey there people eligible for medicare. gimme one minute... and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80% - medicare will pay for. what's left is on you. that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by u

statement but the one that appeared in china on chinese media seemed to be a lot tougher towards darrell morey i have called the whole thing a tire fire. you know once he gets going, they can't put it out. >> harris: you can see and smell it for miles. how does the nba get out of it? they are stuck because they are still talking about it. when you're explaining, we all know, you're not winning. >> granted vice president mike pence brought this up but charles barkley response. one of the issues was that after it was starting to die down, lebron james then had to jump in. he's got a $1 billion lifetime contract with nike. nike, manufacturing business in china. >> harris: let's segue into nike. that came up. you have a whole social justice thing going on with colin kaepernick and dave got this issue. >> wright, social justice, that's the issue, the nba has been a great leader in these types of issues. not playing the all-star game in north carolina because of the transgender bathroom ban which was rescinded. they need to stand up for free speech. nba fans have spoken out and showed up wearing pro

shaquille o'neal defended darrell morey. >> whenever you see something wrong going on anywhere in the you should have the right to say that is not right. that is what he did. >> money market has taken blind lead the nba and many of these players, good for shaquille o'neal to call theey mob. you have freedom, use it. >> laura: here's the problem with that when you carry yourself off as the great social defender of social justice, it is a big shoes to fill, riot social justice and important causes out there and when you are asked about one of the most oppressive forces on the face o the planet, our mortal adversar ouright now and you kind of say no, >> this led to a hot discussion i'm not going there. at the nba pregame show last night, watch this. >> we all have a responsibility too. whatever. i can't come on tv and say anything i want to politically. i can't do that. >> you have been doing it. >> he is doing a good job. his allegiance is to the houston rockets and the nba. listen, and he can quit if he's not happy with it. he can quit if he's not happy with it. >> laura: don't think.

darrell morey tweeted and the nba which makes billions from china first tried to distance itself fromrey but after backlash here in the u.s., they then apologized for that and most recently adam silver has said no one will be punished for speaking out on this issue. still, it's pretty messy. we talked to uc berkeley professor steve weber about it. >> the nba is trying to expand in china, as is the nfl. they dependi they depend on the chinese as much or more than apple computer does. so that's a huge, huge, huge market. anything that the nba does to infuriate the chinese isn't just a political statement, it's a business statement for the nba. >> they should have stood up for american values from the start. that is crucial. >> reporter: in san francisco, liz croitz, abc 7 news. >> this issue is not going away and those t-shirts are probably the last thing adam silver wants to see, whether it's san francisco or any city that has an nba franchise. i saw a report that indicated that there were 600 million fans in china who consume some form of nba basketball last year, whether it was a liv

read the statement, "we recognize that the views expressed by houston rockets general manager darrell moreye deeply offended friends and fans is regrettable." this may be about offending, in part about basketball, in part about money, but this is about freedom, about human rights. this is about a geopolitical mess. >> well, first of all, the statement that you read was the english language statement. the chinese language statement that was delivered by the nba was actually different. and much more apologetic. >> what? >> believe it or not. yeah. no one's advising these people obviously. but it's quite something that the chinese market is important to the nba. they think it's their future. a lot of chinese are really into basketball. there's a lot of money there. and so when the chinese say how can you possibly say this, one of your g.m.s supporting hong kong, what the nba should have said is, hey, we do not take political stances. what he says stands for itself. i actually heard about this originally. i was talking to my friend, the celtics center but is strongly anti-erdogan in turkey. and

this is over since deleted tweet, houston rockets general manager, darrell morey, fight for freedom andkong. this was taken down. this is the most important international market for the nba. we also had the nba, this is not apology. it was regrettable that so many chinese fans were offended by it. we heard from adam silver in tokyo for some of the exhibition games. the fact we have apologized to fans in china is not inconsistent with supporting someone's right to have a point of view. you know the nba is trying to toe this delicate balance freedom of speech and protecting their most important international market as well. the business community has reacted. we have the chinese national basketball association severing ties with the houston rockets. largest streamer, tencent, no longer carrying houston rockets as well as state tv. the chinese development bank say they are suspending their cooperation with the houston rockets going forward. as i mentioned u.s. politicians stepped into the fray. chuck schumer, marco rubio, beto o'rourke and others who have basically said it is embarrassing

. >> reporter: silver refusing to apologize for a tweet from houston rockets general manager darrell morey that shows his support for anti-government protesters in hong kong. the tweet which read, fight for freedom, stand with hong kong, angered the chinese government several chinese businesses cut ties with the rockets and the country's main broadcaster announced it will no longer show the team's games initially, the nba trying to distance itself from the controversy, calling the situation regrettable, adding we have great respect for the history and culture of china, but just hours ago silver clarifying that while it's not up to the nba to pass judgment on the differences between america and china, the league will not put itself in the position of regulating speech from its players, employees or team owners. >> there are consequences from that exercise of in essence, his freedom of speech, and, you know, we will have to live with those consequences. >> reporter: the chinese market for pro hoops is worth billions with an estimated 800 million fans watching the nba last season the rockets

morey. >> we are not apologizing for darrell exercising his freedom of expression. >> shortly after adam silver, fresh backlash from the china's regime. canc lung a brooklyn nets event at a shanghai school. >> china has started pulling down signage. >> at least two retailers have pulled merchandise from their website. china state tv said it won't broadcast or stream n.b.a. pre-season games in china. >> trevor: oh, no! not the pre-season! no! ( laughter ) nobody cares about the pre-season games. fans in america are like, "cuban them here as well? can you... "yeah, the pre-season is just like the boring stuff we're forced to sit through before the main event. like, khanna banning pre-season is like disney getting rid of its lines. "i'm sorry, but you'll have to go straight to the rides from now on. i wish it didn't come to this!" "oh, no." still, china is seriously pissed off about the tweets and they're pissed off about the response from the n.b.a. and they aren't just taking pre-season games off the year. they're cancelling number events, ripping down n.b.a. signs everywhere. everything n.b.a.

darrell exercising his freedom of expression. >> reporter: silver refusing to apologize from houston rockets general manager daryl morey that showedport for antigovernment protesters in hong kong. the tweet which read "fight for freedom, stand with hong kong" angered the chinese government. several chinese businesses immediately cut ties with the rockets and the country's main broadcaster announced it will no longer show the team's games. initially the nba trying to distance itself from the controversy, calling the situation regrettable, adding we have great respect for the history and culture of china. but just hours ago, silver clarifying that while it's not up to the nba to past judgment on the differences between america and china, the league will not put itself in position of regulating speech from players, employers or team owners. >> there are consequences from that exercise of in essence his freedom of speech, and we will have to live with those consequences. >> reporter: the chinese market for pro hoops is worth billions with an estimated 800 million fans watching the nba last season. the rockets are one of the most popul

darrell morey is right when you see something wrong going on anywhere in the world you should have the to say that's not right and that's what he did. ainsley: good for him. steve: at one point in the pre-game show on tnt hong kong flag people in china may have seen it as well. brian: put the damages music up in the arenas and try to get kids dancing. twice i was looking at the video. had a kid dancing. all of a sudden from behind they whip out the t-shirt and quickly the stadium camera would pull away. so two or three times it happened. and china, by the way, chinese state television did not air the nba's opening night games. so, they are pulling back to a degree. i give adam silver credit. i think the commissioner has handled this well after initial meek statement, he has been very strong for free speech. ainsley: all i know is shaq is a big guy. remember when we had him on set with us and he came up and scared from you behind. put his hand on your shoulder during the show? brian: i wasn't scared. it was jarring, thank you. ainsley: coming up straight ahead. brian: i could take him -