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> "We made clear that we were being asked to fire him, by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business," Silver said. "We said
by remarkEon 7y ago
> "We made clear that we were being asked to fire him, by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business," Silver said. "We said there's no chance that's happening. There's no chance we'll even discipline him."
Okay fine, but thus far it’s felt like the overriding concern here is the financial fallout. I don’t know how else to explain LeBron’s behavior recently. Maybe players are acting more independently now, hoping to get their own China deals and that the Player’s association would back them up?
- AnimalMuppet 7y agoLeBron is not the NBA, though. If he wants to not tarnish his personal brand in China (at the price of tarnishing it here in the USA), that's his choice. Don't blame the whole NBA for it. As for the NBA, I don't think that Silver had to say this. By saying it, he's shining a spotlight on China's attempt to destroy anyone who says anything bad about them.
- djmips 7y agoHe wasn't going to say this and probably didn't want to bring it to light since it's possibly damaging to the NBA relationship with China but it's a calculated risk to try shore up the NBA's reputation in America. That's my take.