NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday that his organization backs embattled Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey's right to speak his mind on the Hong Kong protest issue, without endorsing what he said.
Speaking to Kyodo News in Tokyo ahead of a preseason game between the Rockets and Toronto Raptors in Saitama on Tuesday, Silver acknowledged the damage Morey's tweet in support of the Hong Kong protest movement had caused the NBA's brand in China.
"There is no doubt, the economic impact is already clear," he said. "There have already been fairly dramatic consequences from that tweet, and I have read some of the media suggesting that we are not supporting Daryl Morey, but in fact we have."