I guess the NBA is woke until it involves money.

[luvmyhawks]

Sure, but the counter-argument to that is that cutting them off from the rest of the world is not going to make them change either, if for no other reason than that you'll never get every single country and company to stop interacting with China completely. The idea then is by keeping the window open and continuing to expose the people of that country to new ideas that we can get them to change gradually.

It's not a quick, easy fix (obviously). But I do think that an argument can be made that part of the reason China is pushing back so hard on this over what is ultimately a single tweet (which most Chinese didn't see because China blocks a lot of twitter in the country) is that they realize they are slowly losing ground. As a result, they trying to get us to pull back instead. Remember, the collapse of the Soviet Union was accelerated when the hardliners tried to push back on the various reforms.

It doesn't help any of these companies or the NBA that Trump is refusing to apply any political pressure in this, so it's solely China v NBA here.

I don't disagree with your opinion of China. I just think that if we want them to change, they won't do it unless they have reasons to.

Wait a second. Trump isn't applying any political pressure on China?????????????? Are you kidding me??? If there is one thing that buffoon has gotten right, it is his stance on China and the trade war. On top of that, while the US and China are in high level trade discussions right now as we speak, Trump I, for once, doing the right thing by not saying anything about this.

 

[sober_teacher]

Wait a second. Trump isn't applying any political pressure on China?????????????? Are you kidding me??? If there is one thing that buffoon has gotten right, it is his stance on China and the trade war. On top of that, while the US and China are in high level trade discussions right now as we speak, Trump I, for once, doing the right thing by not saying anything about this.

I agree in general, that Trump's stance on China is right - I just disagree that adding tariff after tariff is the best way to do it. Those trade discussions you mentioned are at a standstill right now - largely because Trump couldn't stop from talking a couple months back. Lastly, Trump is not saying anything because NBA players and coaches have been more critical of Trump than any other league (Kerr, Pop, Curry, etc). If we know anything about Trump it's that he is a petty man. He's not saying anything because China is being hard on people he doesn't like. Don't go ascribing higher motives than that.

He's not staying silent on this because of the trade discussions. Heck, he just this morning tweeted that Kerr looked like a little boy when Kerr was responding to questions about the situation.

 

[Bro D]

Not out of the question. Bulls will have their most fun team to watch in a long time. But who do you take out of the 2019 playoffs & replace with the Bulls? The Heat will be improved & should make the playoffs.

I think the East will be a complete crapshoot outside of the top 4 teams this year. 76ers and Bucks are clearly the best two teams. I'd put the Celtics and the Rapots in that next tier. After that is anybody's guess.

Heat should be the 5 seed but outside of that, nobody really does anything for me. Pistons won't make the playoffs again. Bulls, Nets, Pacers, Magic fighting for 3 spots IMO

 

[BrunoMars420]

I think the East will be a complete crapshoot outside of the top 4 teams this year. 76ers and Bucks are clearly the best two teams. I'd put the Celtics and the Rapots in that next tier. After that is anybody's guess.

Heat should be the 5 seed but outside of that, nobody really does anything for me. Pistons won't make the playoffs again. Bulls, Nets, Pacers, Magic fighting for 3 spots IMO

I think the pacers will be in that second tier. I think they will be somewhere between the 3-5 seed. They are well coached team with really good young players. Once they get Dipo back they will be a hard team to beat in a playoff series.

 

[luvmyhawks]

I agree in general, that Trump's stance on China is right - I just disagree that adding tariff after tariff is the best way to do it. Those trade discussions you mentioned are at a standstill right now - largely because Trump couldn't stop from talking a couple months back. Lastly, Trump is not saying anything because NBA players and coaches have been more critical of Trump than any other league (Kerr, Pop, Curry, etc). If we know anything about Trump it's that he is a petty man. He's not saying anything because China is being hard on people he doesn't like. Don't go ascribing higher motives than that.

He's not staying silent on this because of the trade discussions. Heck, he just this morning tweeted that Kerr looked like a little boy when Kerr was responding to questions about the situation.

Those trade talks are not at a standstill. They are in full discussion, right as we speak. Today. Right this very minute. Now, do I think anything will come from them?? That is another question.

As far as Trump being petty towards the NBA. I couldn't care less. I am just glad he isn't tweeting something stupid to disrupt some good trade negotiations. I am hoping for some constructive conversations to be happening between the US and China. Even if it means we know nothing will happen anytime soon.

 

[naturalmwa]

What do you want that to mean in practice?
Sternly worded memorandum on official letterhead? (Evil Empire speech)
Should we place tariffs on them? (Trumponomics)
Cut them off entirely from trade with the U.S. (Iran sanctions regime that hits companies who trade with the country)
Send gunboats up the Yangtze? (Force journalists to wiki "Boxer Rebellion")

I don't know the best way to foster freedom in the society, but I'm wondering what you mean in real terms.

Sanctions coordinated with our allies and probably reopening TPP negotiations. Make China pay a price for doing the wrong thing.

 

[MWardT]

I think the NBA execs on one hand would love to simply stand on principle and support Morey in this. However, it's not a simple issue. They have invested a ton into developing their brand in China and get several billion in revenue from the Chinese. It's one of the largest markets in the world. It's really, really hard for any organization or company to stand up to an entire country.

If you're going to rip the NBA, are you also going to rip Nike, Apple, John Deere, etc who also conduct large amounts of business in China?

Nike did run an ad saying “believe in something, even if it means risking everything.” Obviously they don’t believe that, and like the NBA, aren’t going to do anything if it costs them money. Hypocrites.

 

[seminole97]

Nike did run an ad saying “believe in something, even if it means risking everything.” Obviously they don’t believe that.

The interesting thing is that this isn't 'risking everything', it's just risking more millions on top of the millions they currently earn.

Wonder how the NBA would react to a player who refused to play in China because of the police brutality and concentration camps. Maybe wearing a t shirt that says Free Hong Kong.
Would they shut him down?

 

[Bucky712]

 

[MWardT]

In just two days, Steve Kerr has gone from no comment, to America is just as bad as China. Yikes.