TIME OUT

NBA Cancels All Media Appearances for Rest of China Trip

A statement from the league says it would be “unfair” to ask players or staff to face reporters in the middle of a diplomatic storm.

It’s hard to see how the NBA tour of China could have gone any worse. Now, with two days left, the league has decided to cancel all media availability in an attempt to prevent any more damage. A feud broke out between the NBA and China after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted, then deleted, support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters. The Brooklyn Nets’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai on Thursday was only allowed to happen with a stipulation by the Chinese government that no media availability of any kind be held at the game. Saturday’s followup match in Shenzhen—which borders Hong Kong—will have the same policy. “We have decided not to hold media availability for our teams for the remainder of our trip in China,” the NBA announced Friday. “They have been placed into a complicated and unprecedented situation while abroad and we believe it would be unfair to ask them to address these matters in real time.”