I think some want the accolades, but I think most of them speaking out against Trump and police brutality and gun violence aren't doing it for the accolades.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They're doing it as a mix of what they believe and also for the accolades. Given their cowardice when faced with losing Chinese money, it's clear they wouldn't speak out against Trump if it would cost them endorsement dollars. They do it because it's safe. They're willing to take any position so long as it comes at no cost.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

The NBA basked in the media glow of being the woke league. That’s why they are hypocrites for taking money from a brutal dictatorship. If they had kept their mouths shut about “justice” no one would give a shit about this or ask for their opinions on Hong Kong.

No one denies their right to be political, but there are consequences. Their political convictions are clearly shallow beliefs they discuss to earn social media praise.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

This question was asked in Japan, not China so this is the NBA censoring it, not Chinese authorities. Of course they are doing it to suck Xi's micro-dick

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

LeBron is really the only one that comes off as a marketing campaign. Now he is trying to take credit for the fact that college players may be able to make money off of their likeness without any real reason to believe he had anything to do with it except being a leading voice in a players association that kept the one and done rule. I think other players are much more genuine and not doing it to glorify themselves. Even LeBron's "school" has been shown to be a pretty small investment by him for the branding he did on it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

No, it's a business decision.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

LeBron is 100% avoiding this question because he needs Space Jam 2 to get the Chinese market. It's really pathetic on his part.

It's funny how South Park had NBA players on that plane to China with the Disney characters a full 4 days before this controversy erupted.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I should add that the NBA shutting down that press conference is a great way to demonstrate that Silver is totally 100% serious and sincere when saying he supports freedom of expression.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Ogie has never met an Israeli Human Rights abuse that he wouldn't endorse and is per usual from the "silent majority" contingent he gets a pass on his hypocrisy.

I also find it interesting that they are now expected to speak out on all of the worldwide injustices simply because they decided to speak out on American related injustices. Also interesting is how the focus is now on the players (shocking) when the first person to grovel at the feet of the Chinese were the owners and the guy whom they paid to grovel.

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What are you talking about? Prior to LeBron making political statements costs guys their careers. The players and coaches spoke out about issues that impacted their country and their community. Demanding that they make statements about other countries is ridiculous. How many other countries do you want them to chime in on and push so called American ideals?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It's the worst look yet. The NBA is in quicksand, no doubt about it.

This isn't some random country. If they were asked to speak about Kashmir, you might have a point. However, in this case they are 1: playing the games in said country and 2: have sponsorships with items being made by slave labor in said country


These factors have made the questions fair game, especially when the league clearly forced an employee of a team to apologize for criticizing China and then issued an apology in Chinese on their social media accounts condemning the employee in question.

If you're going to brag about how woke your league is and do away with the word "owner" because you want accolades for your wokeness, then you should have no problem taking a stand for the most basic of inalienable rights

None of these guys will lose their career if they say they support freedom of expression and are against China's organ harvesting, reeducation camps, etc.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

If LeBron would have been the one to tweet that the same people would have torched him for causing an international crisis and a bunch of other things. Now Ogie and many others are the ones virtue signaling.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Yeah they seemed to be getting on track a few days ago and now they're back to handling this about as poorly as possible.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The NBA under Adam Silver has never faced any real controversy so they don't know how to handle it. They are accustomed to receiving nothing but accolades.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

What are the odds that any of the newly anointed "virtue signalers" and "SJWs" would ever criticize American farmers for remaining silent on human rights abuses found in China?

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1. Bring up Israel. Check.

2. Single out. Ogie. Check.

3. Offer baseless accusations based on some imaginary scenario. Check.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Remain a lapdog and completely ignorant of the point being made. Check

Singling out the Athletes (Unsurprisingly) when its the owners that are driving this bus. Also check.


Relevancy among other things, has never been an actual strong suit of yours.

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Are you going to throw away your phone and other items that were manufactured in China? How often have you gone against the wishes of your employer?

If speaking out against injustices in your community is considered "woke" then that also makes you woke. You're a fervent defender of Israel and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. LeBron and others feel that way about minority communities in America. Kanter does the same thing with Turkey.

Prior to LeBron guys routinely lost their careers speaking out against injustices in America. Now they've been given the freedom to do that they should continue to focus on America and allow the politicians to focus on countries around the world.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Most of those are pretty deserved accolades considering they are compared to the NFL, NHL, and MLB. But yes, this is the moment Silver's tenure as commissioner will be defined by and he's handling it pretty poorly. I still think any criticism of the players is misguided.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

What's the prize?

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

For the record WFR can you ever provide an example of a human rights abuse that actually bothered you? Particularly one that is not Euro/anglocentric? How about Ogie since you are oh clingy where he is concerned?

Instead of being a dissenting voice actually provide "evidence to support your claim". Make it the academic exercise that your rather ignorant ass missed out on all those years ago and simply prove me wrong.


We both know however that you can't. Don't we

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Yeah especially considering that Silver is an employee of the owners. The owners groveled and the players followed suit.

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More ignoring of a rather salient and relevant point.

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Jorge Sedano on LeBatard show agreeing with Nas and LTG’s take on the business decision, and my take about how someone can be detained in China for being critical of the regime.

Basically, China doesn’t play by our rules or moral code.

It would be an international incident if Rachel Nichols or Lebron James were put in a Chinese prison.

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Then maybe they shouldn't be in business with dictators.

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Their stature is too high for that to even happen. At worst they would be deported. That's why it falls upon them to speak up, because no one else on the ground in China can.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

They aren't much of an outlier in that regard. This country made its "peace" with China (and human rights abusers) a long time ago. It's not the responsibility of the NBA to right that particular wrong.

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