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The NBA bans customers from putting ‘freehongkong’ on customized league jerseys
- ed25519FUUU 6y agoI’m continually surprised at how willing the elites, the media, corporate America and our elected politicians are to carry water for China. Our elected politicians expend endless breath calling “Wuhan virus” racist but don’t even dare utter a word about an active genocide against Uighur minorities? No problem with the president of one of our largest rival countries effectively becoming a dictator for life? Let’s all keep calling people xenophobic while Xi consolidates power and swallows HK.
- hatsunearu 6y ago140 bucks for a jersy, damn lol
- ShorsHammer 6y agoI bought one of these for about $80 nearly a decade ago and still holds up good despite all the sun and abuse. Compared to most clothing out there it's certainly made well. I have a lot of respect for clothes that last, too much stuff, even high priced, is basically unwearable in a year or two, which is incredibly wasteful.
- jimbob45 6y agoIt’s ~$80 for a men’s NBA jersey. I’ve never been able to understand why they want to charge me out the ass for me to advertise their product. If I was the NBA, I’d give jerseys away like candy and install basketball courts in every park I could in the US to keep interest high in basketball.
- nkrisc 6y agoWhy give them away for free when people will pay you to advertise your business?
- webkike 6y agoBecause they can put your favorite player name and number on it. People are massive fans of these players. I don’t think that the NBA really needs to keep interest high in basketball, because there are already basketball courts everywhere and people have been playing it for 130 years.
- dasil003 6y agoBecause the best advertisement for their product is people who are actually into the product. You don't need to give away stuff to them to keep them interested, because the product speaks for itself. Furthermore, seeing more basketball around is not going to turn non-fans into fans. To do that you need something that transcends the sport such as a Michael Jordan or 2015 Warriors. Now, outside the US in places where NBA has not yet saturated your approach makes more sense, but you could also burn a lot of cash for no returns if you're not careful.
- elil17 6y agoLicensing the brands is how they make their money. They keep interest in basketball high so they can sell expensive shirts, not the other way around. Honesty it would be great if pro sports could be run by nonprofits who cared more about inspiring kids to exercise/be active and less about appeasing the Chinese government
- huffmsa 6y agoThey had fixed it so you could as of 1830cst 13jul2020 last I was poking around
- ezluckyfree 6y agoThis shouldn't be surprising to people. The NBA has a bigger fanbase in China than in the USA. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-09/china-s-500-million-nba-fans-face-loyalty-test-in-standoff https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-09/china-s-5...
- koheripbal 6y agoThe business value for a nation of fans = (Number of fans) x (avg profitability per fan) x (probability of losing fan over political decision) I would argue that while US fans are more profitable in aggregate (first two terms) the reason the NBA sides with China is due to the 3rd term. Chinese fans are vastly more sensitive to perceived "anti-Chinese" policies, whereas most US fans don't care one way or the other. Therefor the NBA's position is very predictable. If you want the NBA to care, you have to convince US NBA fans that this political stance is worth not spending money on. Good luck with that because the NBA fans I know, don't care at all.
- RealStickman_ 6y agoI'd argue that the chinese fans might not be the problem. Their government would be since they can just ban the NBA for their "anti-Chinese" stance.
- stepstop 6y ago> This shouldn't be surprising to people. The NBA has a bigger fanbase in China than in the USA. I disagree. The size of the fanbase is surprising, and so is the implication of this behaviour
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- MattGaiser 6y agoAgreed. I had no idea that the NBA of all things was beholden to the Chinese market already.
- bdz 6y agoThe funny thing that you can order it from SEA (mostly Thailand) for roughly ~$30 through https://www.dhgate.com/ https://www.dhgate.com/ DHGate is perfect to buy fake jerseys that are pretty much the same with genuine tags. Either stolen from the factory or they work overhours, I don't know. But the quality and the actual product is almost always the same.
- atarian 6y agoThis is also a good way to get in trouble with customs. Source: Have a friend who bought counterfeit items and got held up at customs for it.
- Waterfall 6y agoHow? They get seized at worst, you get a reship. Nobody cares about it as long as you aren't getting 50+ for resale.
- atarian 6y ago>It is illegal to purchase counterfeit goods. Bringing them into the United States may result in civil or criminal penalties. https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers
- epx 6y agoOne could try fr33h0ng|<0ng
- frogpelt 6y agoNumbers wouldn't work either.
- yumraj 6y agoHow about: Free China of CCP That’ll take care of all the underlying issues.
- mywittyname 6y agoIt won't change the minds of the millions of people in political power in China. Lots of Chinese feel quite strongly that the Taiwan/Tibet/Hong Kong claims are legitimate and that the international community is attacking China. I guess it would be like if the US was forced to cede Texas back to Mexico because they lost a war. Most Americans, regardless of political party, would hold the opinion that Texas is still American territory, regardless of international opinions on the subject.
- thoughtstheseus 6y agoHow can anyone hold a political position in China and not hold those viewpoints? It’s illegal, in practice, to speak or take actions otherwise.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- moron4hire 6y agoWell, that's a bit complicated by the fact that a lot of Texans don't think Texas should be an American territory.
- Symbiote 6y agoMaybe it's even more like if millions of Scottish people wanted independence. Except they had a referendum, which is unimaginable in Hong Kong.
- yumraj 6y agoWell we have to believe that a democratic open government would be more reasonable in its internal and external policies, unless we’re saying that when it comes to China all hope is lost.
- throwawaysea 6y agoWhat is their stance on other political messaging or activism - for instance putting BLM on jerseys or kneeling? EDIT: comments suggest that the NBA does allow some political message like BLM. It seems like the NBA is now a political organization that is picking sides. Given BLM’s leadership are open, self admitted “trained Marxists” (https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/09/say-you-want-a-marxist-revolution-blm-steps-up/ https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/09/say-you-want-a-marxi...) and those supporting a democratic Hong Kong are nearly the opposite, it is apparent the NBA is effectively pro Marxism and anti Democracy.
- Lammy 6y agoThe difference is that supporting BLM earns them more money. Supporting Hong Kong loses them money. Don't make the mistake of assuming anyone with the power to make these types of decisions gives a single shit about the humanitarian aspect of any of these things.
- wolco 6y agoThe next generation will realize how pretending to be for a cause is worse than not supporting it. I saw an ad for bamba socks. For every pair you buy we will give a pair to a homeless shelter. Sounds good but those socks are like 25/30 dollars for a pair. If they really cared they would take that 25 dollars and buy cheap white warm socks in bundles. For 25 dollars you could get 100 pairs. But they don't care but do things to make you think they do.
- mthoms 6y agoI'd never heard of this brand so I had a look. I'm not sure where you got 25-30 dollars from. The average seems somewhere around $10-15/pair. https://bombas.com/collections/mens-ankle-socks https://bombas.com/collections/mens-ankle-socks And those cheap white 100% cotton socks you mention are not at all warm (especially when wet), durable or odor resistant. The company claims to donate socks that are at least as good as the ones you purchased, if not better. https://help.bombas.com/hc/en-us/articles/229966888-Do-Bombas-giving-partners-get-the-same-products-that-we-do- https://help.bombas.com/hc/en-us/articles/229966888-Do-Bomba...
- stevespang 6y agoNBA is a vassel of CCP
- rs23296008n1 6y agoWho's really in power? They're the ones you can't offend. Or else.
- IanDrake 6y agoThere's probably some truth to that. Look at Nick Cannon.
- chrisdirkis 6y agoThis sounds like a play on the old Voltaire quote, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." A common joke response is "wow, we'd better rise up against kids with leukemia."
- rs23296008n1 6y agoI'm the sort of person who would tell that kid to clean up their room. Normalcy is underrated. As for Voltaire, while I'd buy that guy some wine, the lack of meaningful progress on something at least like CFE from RFC 5984 is somewhat of a barrier. My limited understanding is that its still in development rather than anything near production ready.
- kbaker 6y ago"The customer is always right".
- nicc 6y agoWhat a disgrace. It's really true that those who are actually in power are those you can't talk about (that would be China).
- Synaesthesia 6y agoCan you put “Free Palestine” on them?
- apta 6y agohttp://www.reddit.com/r/avoidchineseproducts/ http://www.reddit.com/r/avoidchineseproducts/
- runawaybottle 6y agoThe West has been through this version of the fight before. Can’t draw Muhammad cartoons? Can’t say Free Hong Kong? I don’t want to see our top institutions buckle like this. This is a real fight, it keeps popping up. These things are worth protecting.
- supernova87a 6y agoYou know, people are absolutely free to buy the shirt and stencil on any sentiment or message they feel. Or is speech only meaningful if you added it to your shopping cart and it went through the pipes of commerce? Kind of exactly what people are upset about in the first place?
- mmm_grayons 6y agoI wonder about this: while I don't agree with the idea, it seems legally questionable. If, hypothetically, the KKK got such a jersey and pasted racist slogans on it, the NBA could reasonably claim the people doing so were unjustly associating its brand with causes it didn't support. They would be using the NBA brand in a manner in which they had not received license to use it. I think the same thing applies here: while I don't approve of this action by the NBA, they could have grounds for legal action against someone doing this (though I imagine it would make a bad PR situation even worse).
- oarsinsync 6y ago> They would be using the NBA brand in a manner in which they had not received license to use it. It’s a shirt. You’re not using the brand. The manufacturer of the shirt is. You have no licence. You own property. You can deface it however you see fit.
- Hnaomyiph 6y agoPeople are upset because more and more companies are ceding to a government which is actively committing genocide, suppresses ideas and free speech of its own people, all so that these companies can make more money.
- supernova87a 6y agoHow about not buying the shirt then, instead of complaining about the message you're helping to fund while buying it?
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- hn_throwaway_99 6y agoThis is a couple days old. The NBA has since taken down the ability to customize jerseys at all. Not sure if this is worse. https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/voa-news-china/nba-halts-personalizing-apparel-following-freehongkong-controversy https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/voa-news-china/nba...
- throwaway122378 6y agoDefinitely worse. Instead of correcting the issue they went all in. Great point.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- alkibiades 6y agowhere’s the woke outrage about this and xinjiang death camps? isn’t it weird no one cares? what about blm and doing what’s right?
- axlmg 6y agoIndeed no one cares, not only in the US. When there's a protest against China, Pakistan or the ruling class of India in a major European city, there are 40 people with placards and no white people. For BLM, during the height of the corona crisis, hundreds of thousands went on demonstrations, 99% white. The media does a good job of pushing the correct narratives.
- ytrytr 6y agowhere is your outrage outside this post? What have you done? What does BLM have to do with this?
- 11thEarlOfMar 6y agoHere's another angle. The increasing censorship within China leaves less and less opportunity for the greater Chinese population to learn about the capabilities of other countries. A few examples of excellence that are still available to Chinese citizens are the NBA, Apple products, US education and Tesla cars. Most nations export excellence of some type to China. Having these examples in their hands or on their screens likely initiates a mild cognitive dissonance: "The CCP news tells me how terrible the USA is, yet, these elements in my life are excellent beyond what is created by my own country." It's reminiscent of Russian defectors who couldn't rationalize the images they were shown of US poverty, illustrated by films from the Great Depression wherein the 1930s streets of New York were clogged with cars. Or, Boris Yeltzen visiting an American grocery store in 1989, and being overwhelmed at the variety of products and full shelves [0]. As the reins of censorship and propaganda tightens in China, there may be less and less of the world to pierce through and belie the narrative they are fed. Perhaps we should not abandon them any sooner than we must. With that said, if it's a deliberate approach, we need to get the messaging right. The NBA should stick to 'we are ambassadors for the USA to the world' and leave any politics at that. [0] https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When...
- bigpumpkin 6y agoThis claim is objectively false since Chinese people become more nationalistic after visiting western countries. The cognitive dissonance isn't that western countries are better than expected, it is that they are worse. Look no further than the political activities by Chinese students in western universities.
- bpodgursky 6y agoThe Chinese students with the education and wealth to study abroad are already among the top 5% in China. Their families are wealthy and powerful to start with. It's not shocking that many of them see negatives to living in the west as compared to China (in the west, they are on a more level playing field with the "masses"). Their experience does not translate to the remaining 95% who work manual jobs, with highly filtered information coming in, with no real hope or means of ever traveling abroad.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Buldak 6y agoWhen I first read this headline, I thought it was referring to the social justice statements that NBA players now have the option to add to their jerseys in lieu of their names. Only after a double take did I realize that this is about the jerseys that fans customize and purchase for themselves!
- frogpelt 6y agoEconomics can explain so much. There is a huge cost to the NBA if they stand with Hong Kong. There is also a very small cost to the NBA and or more probably no cost at all if they fully embrace other movements such as BLM. People upset about this are upset because the NBA (and other sports leagues and media) have become more socially active or political lately but they still refuse to speak up on topics that hurt their bottom line.
- moate 6y agoIt's almost like "Woke Capitalism" is just a brand being sold by Capitalists...
- oh_sigh 6y agoI don't exactly get it...will Chinese people just start enjoying a different sport if they think few people in basketball don't like how mainland China treats Hong Kong? What sport isn't going to have athletes using the bully pulpit for their cause, which sometimes is HK?
- frogpelt 6y agoNo, the CCP will censor the NBA out of the country if they stand for things like Free Hong Kong.
- lanevorockz 6y agoChina won, they already hold power on all relevant companies in the US and Europe. Thing is, how can we make sure we at least keep some individual liberty as they slowly take control of the world.
- racl101 6y agoThis is why I'm not hot on big corporations virtue signalling to us consumers. It seems that they all have moral, entanglements (to borrow Jada Pinkett's parlance), with China that they cannot seem to reconcile. But they want to lecture us about important cause du jour? Please! Spare me the self righteousness.
- JesusIsKing 6y agoIIRC McDonalds banned black people in China, however they virtue signal about BLM in the USA. https://heavy.com/news/2020/04/mcdonalds-bans-black-people-china-video/ https://heavy.com/news/2020/04/mcdonalds-bans-black-people-c... Coke Cola used to be pretty pro Nazi back in the 1930s. https://www.adbranch.com/coca-cola-ads-in-nazi-germany/ https://www.adbranch.com/coca-cola-ads-in-nazi-germany/ Corporations don't care about anything other than keeping the money coming in. So they will support any cause as long as it seems trendy.
- htfu 6y ago> Corporations don't care about anything other than keeping the money coming in. So they will support any cause as long as it seems trendy. Fair enough. But next time either read your own links or get better at obfuscating. Neither of them says what you imply.
- JesusIsKing 6y agoFair enough on the first one as I was guilty of reading the headlines. > Athletic competition was a Nazi ideal and the Coca-Cola GmbH cashed in heavily on this infatuation by becoming one of the biggest sponsors of sports events, most notably the annual Deutschlandrundfahrt (National Bycicle Championships) and the Soccer Cup. The second is fine.
- htfu 6y agoIt is not. https://hoaxeye.com/2018/01/19/nazi-cola/ https://hoaxeye.com/2018/01/19/nazi-cola/
- klyrs 6y agoI recall Nike being in a similar situation. As I recall, they forbade terms like "sweatshop".
- hn_throwaway_99 6y agoBut that's a bit different. For Nike, writing "sweatshop" on a show is equivalent to bashing Nike. Freehongkong isn't a negative message against the NBA itself.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoAlmost as bad as the taxation without representation some cities have to endure.
- bobjordan 6y agoI wonder if “Free Portland” would fly.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- qbaqbaqba 6y agoYou don't know how communism works. There are no "Chinese companies" or "Chinese investment founds", or "Chinese 5%". There is only the Party. The single and only united entity, political and economical. There are wealthy people but they don't own any capital or means of production. They may own a Ferrari but can't own a wheelbarrow. They may decide if they want to buy a villa in Italy, but they can't decide to buy a Pizzeria in Verona. There is no difference between political and economical power. If you accept any Chinese capital, you are dealing with the Party. The Party's decisions are not economical, they are political. They will destroy any company for a political gain. They don't make any decisions that are apolitical. It's not about selling your products or services to China, it's about following the politics of the party. There are no Chinese students. You can't leave a communist state just like that. Money don't matter. You have to be a good citizen, you must leave your family behind, you must agree to cooperate with the intelligence and to follow politics of the Party or you will never will be allowed abroad again or something bad will happen to your family. There is no China, there's just the Party. There are no individuals, there's just the Party.
- motoboi 6y agoThere are more people playing basketball in China (300 millions) than people in the USA. Think about that for a moment. How many friends of you, American citizen, don’t play basketball but like to watch it? This is why China is more important to NBA than America.
- taurath 6y agoI don’t understand why stories like this get thru, but other extremely relevent/interesting stories like medical data related to COVID get absolutely no coverage. Is “China Censorship” so relevant to HN that even an NBA-related story is okay?
- libx 6y agoThis mass censorship that we are living in allows and promotes all sorts of manifestations of the so called anti-racism white over black. It's of interest to the controlling regime to do so. But, when there are manifestations against the totalitarism, they are forbidden. Because, again, the deep govern owns the political, economical, mass-media and so forth all over the world.
- mc32 6y agoWhat about the WNBA, can you buy their jerseys do customization and irritate the NBA?
- MangoCoffee 6y agoits funny to me that you can put "fuck the police" on NBA jersey but you can't put "freehongkong". its kinda double standards, isn't it? NBA really want that Chinese market. i find it interesting that Western corporation is willing to abandoned the western values they championed for money or rather i guess Corporation don't give a fuck about anything as long as they make money.
- jcytong 6y agoThat seem to be the strategy of the CCP. Blocking foreign influence (Google, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc...) with the Great Firewall while taking advantage of the West's openness to promote their own platform TikTok, WeChat, ... That allows them to promote their ideologies and export "The China Way" to becoming the next World's superpower without changing. Great way to take advantage of the asymmetry to have your cake and eat it too.
- bishalb 6y agoVirtue signaling for blm is allowed though?
- vaxman 6y agoAmerica’s organizations want access to the Chinese market and, absent any regulations to the contrary, when necessary are willing to compromise the values of our American Way of Life. But those regulations are (finally) coming. In the meantime, when they are caught doing things like this, they risk being attacked on Twitter by the President.
- pyuser583 6y agoWhen was the last time Hollywood made a major movie about the Tiennamen Square protests? Or the Chinese war against Tibetan autonomy? Notice how in Top Gun 2, the Taiwanese regalia had been removed. American elites have no problem censoring American citizens (in America) to appease Chinese elites. This has been going on for a very long time. What’s different is people are realizing it.
- peacefulhat 6y agoI tried buying some custom Nikes with "ADIDAS" written on the side. The online tool explicitly banned it. I got the online form to take "PUMA" but the shoes arrived with no custom message.