It is obvious that both the NBA and the Houston Rockets are doing as much damage control as they can in the midst of their spat against China. Rockets superstars James Harden and Russell Westbrook were even instructed to completely steer clear of any non-basketball related queries during their postgame presser after Thursday's game in Japan:
Harden and Westbrook were asked if they still feel free to speak out on political and social issues. A spokesperson off stage said they would only answer basketball questions.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 10, 2019
Harden and Westbrook had responded to similar questions earlier in the week, but clearly there's an effort to avoid any further issues on the matter. Below is a clip of a reporter being completely shut down for asking a question pertaining to the China issue:
Journalist gets quickly shut down when she asked James Harden, Russell Westbrook if they would refrain from speaking out on politics/social justice after China debacle… pic.twitter.com/VkXSWo0N0s
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 10, 2019
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's right to free speech earlier this week after Morey's Hong Kong tweet initially set off this firestorm. NBA players and coaches around the league have mostly refrained from commenting on the matter when asked (Harden initially apologized to China), knowing these are murky waters they're dealing with given the league's financial interests in China.
China has taken numerous steps to sever ties with the Rockets and the NBA, but an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets went ahead as planned on Thursday. There were no availabilities and corporate logos were removed from the court, but the game still happened. There's another game scheduled for Saturday, and we'll see where this story heads next.
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