© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
No, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s all fine. At least, that’s the line Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has taken after he distanced himself from his general manager Daryl Morey for supporting the protests in Hong Kong. The protests have raged on for four months, starting with outrage over a bill that would have allowed extradition from the semi-autonomous Hong Kong to mainland China.
Morey had tweeted, “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong,” apparently something Fertitta was unhappy with due to his standing within the Rockets organization.
Interesting situation going on with Rockets GM, Daryl Morey, right now:
– Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong.
– Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta, quickly distanced the team from the tweet, which has a big Chinese fanbase.
– Morey’s latest tweet has been ratioed by Chinese users. pic.twitter.com/5pEHPudZ58— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) October 5, 2019
Fertitta tweeted the following:
Listen….@dmorey does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the @NBA internationally and we are NOT a political organization. @espn https://t.co/yNyQFtwTTi
— Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) October 5, 2019
Fertitta later clarified his statement, saying that the Rockets are trying to avoid offending people.
“I have the best general manager in the league,” Fertitta said, according to ESPN. “Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the organization] has no [political] position. We’re here to play basketball and not to offend anybody.”
UPDATE: It might not be fine. According to John Gonzalez of The Ringer, the Rockets, under pressure from the Chinese government, businesses and the Chinese Basketball Association, are considering firing Morey. The Rockets, as cited in Gonzalez’s story, are the second-most popular NBA team in China; no surprise for the team that rostered star center Yao Ming for much of the 2000s. The Rockets are already feeling the brunt of a number of businesses pulling their support due to Morey’s tweet, including Tencent, the NBA’s rights holder in China, who have effectively blacklisted the team’s broadcasts.
Sam Amick of The Athletic said his sources refute the report by Gonzalez and that Morey’s job isn’t in jeopardy.
Two sources with knowledge of the Rockets' ownership thinking strongly refute the Ringer report indicating that the GM Daryl Morey's job is in jeopardy as a result of the Hong Kong tweet-China situation. That being said, it's undeniably a mess.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) October 6, 2019
