NBA commissioner Adam Silver will face ‘retribution’ for defaming China, state media says

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In a commentary on Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV said Silver had “crossed the bottom line” by continuing to defend Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, who posted an image on Twitter on October 4 saying “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong”.

Making his first comments about the dispute since returning from a contentious visit to China for two preseason games, Silver said on Thursday that the Chinese government had asked the NBA to fire Morey.

“We said there’s no chance that’s happening,” he said in an interview at the Time 100 Health Summit in New York. “There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him.”

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that Beijing had never made such a demand.

CCTV said Silver had crossed a line.

“Silver has spared no effort to portray himself as a fighter for free speech and used freedom of speech as an excuse to cover for Morey, who voiced his support for the violent actors in Hong Kong,” it said. “This has crossed the bottom line of the Chinese people.”

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