The NBA Just Got Caught In the Biggest Scandal of Their History, Players Told Not to Comment

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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, center, gestures against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)
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While the connections between the NBA and China have been obvious for a long time, the basketball league has done a fairly effectively job of side-stepping criticism. That’s largely been possible because of a compliant media, which doesn’t dare criticize an organization so committed to “social justice.” Lebron James, for example, has been allowed to continually not answer questions about China’s abuses even as he proclaims himself a leader in the “anti-racist” movement.

But that may be about to change. The biggest scandal in the league’s history has just dropped and it’s directly connected to human rights abuses in China.

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Until now, the league and its players have tried to distance themselves from the communist state, playing it off as a foreign issue they can’t control. They are just there to play basketball, right? Except, these camps are NBA sanctioned and the abuse happened directly under NBA control.

What does Lebron James have to say about this? Well, we don’t know because the players have been told not to comment. Is that the kind of behavior you’d expect from a league that’s innocent?

In hindsight, this may explain the disposition of some NBA owners and players. It seems probable they knew this was happening and that it would eventually become public. A few weeks ago, Mark Cuban tied himself into knots to avoid talking about China’s malfeasance while arguing with Ted Cruz. Was the CCP using these revelations of abuse to keep everyone from criticizing the regime? I don’t know, but it would explain why owners, players, and coaches have gone to such great lengths to not talk about Hong Kong or the Uighurs

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Of course, if an NBA owner, player, or coach allowed themselves to be muzzled like that in the face of such abuses, it would only be that much worse. Meanwhile, others in the media are helping the NBA sweep this all under the rug. We got this garbage last night after the ESPN story broke.

They are all about equality and stuff except when it comes to abuses in NBA camps in China, Hong Kong being oppressed, and Uighurs being sent to concentration camps.

CNN also did an at length interview with the NBA commissioner yesterday. Not a single question about China was asked by supposed journalist Wolf Blitzer.

In the end, the divisions in this country are so strong that the NBA may get away with this. If you toe the “woke” line as the NBA does, kneel for the anthem, and have people like Lebron James proclaiming to care about racism, you get a free pass from most things. Perhaps that pass won’t apply to abuses in their own camps in China, but I suspect it will.

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UPDATE: 

Some commenters are pointing out that ESPN is burying their own story, with it not even appearing on the front page of their NBA site. That appears to be the case and is a good observation. ESPN has perpetrated wokeness for a long time and it’s no surprise they find random, almost irrelevant news worthy of placement over this story. They have business interests to protect.

 

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