Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is explicitly standing up for his once-embattled general manager with regards to the latter's controversial tweet about supporting the Hong Kong protests last year.
In a Q&A with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Fertitta had this to say about his thoughts on Morey's previous tweet, which was actually deleted shortly after the Rockets general manager sent it:
“The tweet was seven words,” Fertitta said, via Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire. “There was nothing wrong with the tweet. That’s why one hour later I told ESPN when I was asked ‘Are you going to get rid of Daryl Morey,’ I was like, ‘Are you crazy? Why would I get rid of Daryl for that tweet?’ I think Daryl’s one of the best general managers in the league. Plus, we truly enjoy working with each other.”
Fertitta initially tried to distance the Rockets from Morey's tweet, but he never thought about firing the general manager. There was a lot of pressure on Fertitta to fire Morey after the latter upset pretty much the entire nation of China when he offered support for the anti-China protests in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, this is one of the few occasions that Fertitta has actually made this strong a statement in support of Morey.
Furthermore, Fertitta even pretty much guaranteed Morey's job security with the Rockets:
“To this day, we plan on working with each other and I expect Daryl to be here for years to come,” added Fertitta.
Recently, Fertitta also decided to bring up this issue in a White House dinner with United States President Donald Trump. As it seems, the Rockets owner really has the back of his heavily criticized GM.
In terms of basketball, Fertitta and Morey are hoping their Rockets will have success when they go to Disney World for the NBA's restart. Houston is sixth in the Western Conference.
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