State-owned China Central Television is suspending broadcasts of the National Basketball Association's preseason games in China and will "immediately investigate" cooperation and exchanges with the NBA, CNBC.com reported.
Tencent Holdings Ltd., which owns digital streaming rights for the NBA in the country, will also "temporarily suspend" preseason broadcast arrangements with the NBA.
The suspensions come after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey expressed support for the Hong Kong protests in a tweet, which has now been deleted. According to Kyodo News, Morey tweeted an image containing the text "Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong."
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver backed Morey, saying that he is "supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression," Kyodo News reported.
CCTV countered Silver's statement, saying "speech that challenges national sovereignty and social stability is not within the scope of freedom of speech," according to CNBC, translating the broadcaster's Chinese statement into English.
Morey later tweeted that causing offense was not his intention.
Tencent has been the NBA's digital media partner in China since 2009; in the previous season, 490 million people watched NBA programming through Tencent's platforms. The parties recently extended their agreement to the 2024-2025 season in a deal estimated to be worth $1.5 billion, CNBC reported.
