The NBA has canceled the Atlanta Hawks&#8217; &#8220;Magic City Monday,&#8221; which was set for next week, after some NBA players raised concerns about having a promotional themed night celebrating a strip club.
The Hawks were set to honor one of Atlanta’s &#8220;iconic cultural institutions&#8221; with special food, merchandise, and a halftime performance by Atlanta rapper T.I. for their matchup against the Orlando Magic next week, per a team release.
But San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet voiced concerns about having a night that brings attention to Magic City, the historic strip club in Atlanta, calling the move a poor decision.
&#8220;The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,&#8221; Kornet wrote. &#8220;We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love&#8230;we desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-team-to-honor-strip-club-during-international-womens-month">NBA Team To Honor Strip Club During International Women’s Month</a>
Warriors center Al Horford, who played for years for the Hawks, also pushed back against &#8220;Magic City Monday,&#8221; saying he agreed with Kornet&#8217;s assessment of the evening not creating an environment for fans of all ages — and the league agrees.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The following has been released by the NBA. <a href="https://t.co/jzbUW8t73Y">pic.twitter.com/jzbUW8t73Y</a>
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/2031116613986971749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement on Monday: &#8220;When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks&#8217; scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale. While we appreciate the team&#8217;s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. I believe cancelling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.&#8221;
&#8220;Magic City Monday&#8221; was scheduled for the Hawks on March 16.
&#8220;The Hawks have worked with Magic City to bring the ‘best of’ the phenomena for fans in attendance at the award-winning State Farm Arena,&#8221; the announcement for the promotional night read.
&#8220;From the food to the music and the exclusive merchandise, we are excited to team up with Magic City to create an authentic, true to Atlanta-inspired game experience,&#8221; said Hawks Executive Vice President &amp; Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Proctor.
Atlanta&#8217;s NBA team responded to the cancellation in a statement Monday evening on <a href="https://x.com/ATLHawks/status/2031132956379533698?s=20">X</a>.
&#8220;While we are very disappointed in the NBA&#8217;s decision to cancel our Magic City Night promotion, we full respect its decision. As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta with authenticity in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together.&#8221;
The Hawks never referred to Magic City as a strip club, though the widely-known entertainment space has been known for that since the 80s; instead, the organization planned to focus on other aspects of the club, including its lemon pepper wings that were set to be a special menu item for the March 16 game.
There is no word on if famed rapper T.I. is still set to perform, despite the promotion being called off.
The tip-off for the Hawks and Magic is set for next Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Credit: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire/Prince Williams/Wire Image via via Getty Images/Daily Wire staff

NBA Strips Atlanta Hawks Of ‘Magic City Monday’ Promotional Night After Backlash

Adam Silver

General

Sports

U.S.

The NBA is seeing its viewership plummet in the first half of the 2024-2025 season while the NFL enjoys some of its best ratings in the past decade.
As of last week, NBA ratings were down 17% across its main networks, ABC, ESPN, and TNT, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/19/cnbc-sport-falling-nba-ratings-and-directvs-christmas-day-nfl-deal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC Sport</a>. The problem has become big enough for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to address it, but Silver seems positive that the negative viewership trend isn&#8217;t &#8220;a lack of interest in the game.&#8221;
The NFL, meanwhile, recorded its highest average of viewers per game (17.3 million) through the first 10 weeks of the season, Front Office Sports <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/nfl-tv-ratings-up-big-on-major-networks-but-theres-a-caveat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last month. That average doesn&#8217;t include a few games that were available exclusively services Peacock and ESPN+ or international games broadcast on NFL Network. The NFL is also seeing a 7% increase in viewership on streaming service Amazon Prime this year compared to last year.
So, what&#8217;s behind the NBA&#8217;s struggles?
There are a few theories.
Some argue that the league has become &#8220;woke,&#8221; as players and coaches focus too much on politics when fans just want to watch basketball. Since 2020, the NBA has been one of, if not the most, pro-social justice sports leagues. After the 2020 death of George Floyd in police custody, the NBA allowed players to put phrases such as &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; and &#8220;I Can&#8217;t Breathe&#8221; on their uniforms.
That decision clearly left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans. While the NBA has dialed back its league-wide push for social justice, some of the most notable players and coaches in the league — such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Steve Kerr — are still openly political and openly Left-leaning.
If woke culture is a culprit for the NBA&#8217;s ratings decline, it&#8217;s probably not the sole reason. The NFL has also pushed <a href="https://www.nfl.com/causes/inspire-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social justice</a> causes in recent years, and still allows players to place social-justice-inspired phrases on the back of their helmets. The wokeness in the NFL hasn&#8217;t gone completely away, but the pro football league&#8217;s ratings are spiking again.
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Others say the NBA&#8217;s viewership has declined because a handful of star players throughout the league haven&#8217;t been playing as much this season due to injuries. Stars like Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Luka Doncic, and Victor Wembanyama have all missed multiple games this season.
The NBA commissioner has another theory. He pointed to the decreasing number of people watching traditional cable TV as a reason for the numbers the NBA is seeing this year.
“We’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programming on streaming than they are in traditional television,” Silver said, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002603/2024/12/17/adam-silver-nba-tv-ratings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic</a>.
Other sports are also struggling with viewership declines. Men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s college basketball, along with the NHL are all down this year, Sports Media Watch reported, a fact that appears to bolster Silver&#8217;s argument that the ratings decline has a lot to do with the overall decline in cable TV subscriptions.
Silver added that beginning next year, the NBA is going to make every game &#8220;available on a streaming service.&#8221;
Some fans complain that the NBA&#8217;s 82-game season is just too long to stay interesting, so it&#8217;s impossible for the league to keep its ratings up all year. To address this and bring more viewers in during the first half of its long season, the NBA started an in-season tournament where all 30 teams face off in a round-robin group play followed by a single-elimination playoff. The in-season tournament began last year and recently finished its second go-round. Ratings for this season&#8217;s tournament, however, were 10% lower than last year&#8217;s, Outkick <a href="https://www.outkick.com/sports/ratings-new-nba-tournament-failure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In all likelihood, each theory for the NBA&#8217;s tanking ratings is partly correct. It&#8217;s true, as Silver points out, that the way people watch TV is rapidly changing, as streaming services gain more prominence, and injuries to any league&#8217;s star players won&#8217;t help with ratings.
But it&#8217;s also true that the NBA has been vocal about politics, and Americans just don&#8217;t want their favorite sports teams and players lecturing them about cultural issues and presidential candidates.

NFL/NBA

NBA Ratings Tank While The NFL Jumps. What’s Behind The Viewership Contrast?

NBA Ratings Tank While The NFL's Jump. What's Behind The Viewership Contrast?

Speaking on his HBO television show “The Shop,” NBA star LeBron James, 37,  stated he wants to own a team in Las Vegas.
James recently was feted as the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2022/06/02/lebron-james-is-officially-a-billionaire/?sh=756cbb4e453e">second billionaire</a> to have played in the NBA, following Michael Jordan.
“I want to own a team, I want to buy a team, for sure,&#8221; James <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10902433/LeBron-James-eyes-NBA-franchise-ownership-Las-Vegas-billionaire.html">said</a> in clip from his show. &#8220;I would much rather own a team before I talk. I want a team in Vegas. Yeah, I want the team in Vegas.&#8221;
James already serves as a part owner of the Boston Red Sox since he joined Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as a partner.
NBA Commission Adam Silver <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-talks-about-league-expansion-potential-all-nba-changes-ahead-of-finals/">dismissed rumors</a> of moving one of the NBA’s teams to Las Vegas or Seattle last week, contending, “That talk is not true.&#8221;
&#8220;As I said before, at some point, this league invariably will expand, but it&#8217;s not at this moment that we are discussing it,” he added.
&#8220;One of the factors in expanding is the potential dilution of talent, Silver said. “As I&#8217;ve said before, I find it remarkable that when you have the second-most-played sport in the world after soccer, tens of millions of young men playing in this game, and then you have the 450 best in the world in this league, that there&#8217;s a few of them who separate themselves even among those 450 as the very best of the best, but there is then a fall-off, a drop-off in talent after that.&#8221;
&#8220;So expansion does create a certain amount of dilution,” he explained. “And even sort of adding another 30 players or so that are roughly comparable, there still are only so many of the truly top-tier super talents to go around. That is something on the mind of the other teams as we think about expansion. But those are wonderful markets. We&#8217;ll be looking at it at some point, but there&#8217;s no specific timeline right now.&#8221;
“Those are wonderful markets,&#8221; Silver <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/03/nba-expansion-in-2024-adam-silver-says-that-talk-is-not-true/">continued</a>. “Again, as I&#8217;ve said before, we were in Seattle. I&#8217;m sorry we are no longer there. We have a WNBA team in Seattle in an almost brand-new building that&#8217;s doing spectacular. And Las Vegas, where will be at our Summer League in July, has shown itself to be a great sports market as well.&#8221;
The Oak View Group has already announced it has plans to build an “NBA ready” arena in Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas is the entertainment capital and so what we have to build is the best we have ever built for Las Vegas,” OVG chief executive officer Tim Leiweke opined to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/30/las-vegas-sports-district-3-billion-arena-hotel-and-casino-project-planned.html">CNBC</a>.
“Should the NBA decide to come and by the way, there&#8217;s no certainty or no guarantees that the NBA is ever coming to Vegas, but should they come, we certainly will be NBA ready,” he said.

Los Angeles Lakers v Atlanta Hawks

Billionaire LeBron James: I Want To Own A Team In Las Vegas

LeBron James Wants To Own A Team In Las Vegas

Las Vegas

LeBron James

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has gone through a bizarre season. 
Prior to the start of the 2021 NBA regular season, Irving chose to remain unvaccinated, putting him at odds with a New York City mandate requiring at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to play in home games. His choice caused the Nets organization to sideline Irving until January 5, when Brooklyn General Manager Sean Marks allowed Irving to be a “part-time player,” meaning Irving is allowed to play in Brooklyn&#8217;s road games. 
Irving’s part-time participation is a major issue for the Nets, who have been without former MVP Kevin Durant since January 16, after he suffered a sprained MCL. Brooklyn has lost 11 of their last 12 games and has traded James Harden for Ben Simmons since Durant’s injury, with reports coming out that Harden’s unhappiness in Brooklyn was largely caused by Irving’s unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has publicly called for Irving to become vaccinated, imploring Irving to get the jab for “himself and his family” on the NBA’s opening night of the regular season. 
“I’d tell him to get vaccinated, first and foremost for himself and his family,” Silver said. “Next, for his teammates and his community and also for the league that I know he cares so much about.”
Silver touted the vaccination as a “miracle,” saying that Irving will need to be vaccinated in order to be an “engaged member of society.”
“Science is firmly on the side of getting vaccinated. And this is in essence, a miracle vaccine … It’s already saved tens of millions of lives. I think, at some point, for Kyrie to be an engaged member of society — putting aside this league — he needs to get vaccinated,” Silver continued. “That’s the law in New York: if you want to play in an arena, if you want to visit an arena, if you want to participate in an activity in an arena, you need to be vaccinated, and that’s where he finds himself.”
But even Silver sees some of the hypocrisy behind New York City’s vaccine mandate which prohibits Irving from playing in Brooklyn’s home games at Barclays Arena. 
&#8220;This law in New York, the oddity of it to me is that it only applies to home players,&#8221; Silver <a href="https://abc7ny.com/sports/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-nyc-covid-19-vaccination-rule-keeping/11570405/">said</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;I think if ultimately that rule is about protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn&#8217;t quite make sense to me that an away player who is unvaccinated can play in Barclays but the home player can&#8217;t. To me, that&#8217;s a reason they should take a look at that ordinance.&#8221;
Per New York City regulations, visiting players are not subject to the vaccine requirement which applies to players of the Nets and the New York Knicks. 
&#8220;So while, again, my personal view is people should get vaccinated and boosted, I can imagine a scenario where Brooklyn, as part of New York City, with a new mayor now who wasn&#8217;t in place, Eric Adams, when that original ordinance was put into place, I could see him deciding to change along the way and say it&#8217;s no longer necessary to have a mandatory vaccination requirement, as I said, particularly one that only affects home players,&#8221; Silver <a href="https://abc7ny.com/sports/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-nyc-covid-19-vaccination-rule-keeping/11570405/">continued</a>. 
As the NBA approaches the All-Star break, Brooklyn currently sits in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, meaning they would be playing in the play-in tournament should the playoffs start today. Should the New York City mandate continue, the Nets would be without Irving for their home playoff games.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.
The Daily Wire’s first original film, Shut In, has made its cinematic debut, being met with rave reviews. The Daily Wire is building an alternative to the leftist entertainment industry, one gripping movie at a time. Join us in this mission and stream Shut In today by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">Daily Wire member</a>.

Brooklyn Nets v Washington Wizards

‘Doesn’t Quite Make Sense’: NBA Commissioner On NYC Rule Requiring Kyrie Irving To Be Vaccinated

COVID-19 Vaccine

James Harden

Kyrie Irving

China NBA

6 Things You Need To Know About The NBA’s Relationship With Communist China

China

Chinese Communist Party

Hong Kong

John Kasich

Josh Hawley

On Wednesday, ESPN released <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29553829/espn-investigation-finds-coaches-nba-china-academies-complained-player-abuse-lack-schooling">a bombshell report</a> detailing how Chinese authorities allegedly abused players at NBA academies. Later that night, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appeared on CNN with host Wolf Blitzer – and wasn’t asked once about the major new scandal.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kids-abused-at-nba-youth-training-camps-in-china-employee-says-it-was-like-working-in-world-war-ii-germany-report-claims">reported</a>, the NBA worked with their Chinese partners to set up training academies that allegedly beat kids who didn’t perform well enough.
“American coaches at three NBA training academies in China told league officials their Chinese partners were physically abusing young players and failing to provide schooling, even though commissioner Adam Silver had said that education would be central to the program,” ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29553829/espn-investigation-finds-coaches-nba-china-academies-complained-player-abuse-lack-schooling">reported</a>. “One former league employee who worked in China wondered how the NBA, which has been so progressive on issues around Black Lives Matter and moved the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, over a law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates, could operate a training camp amid a Chinese government crackdown that also targeted NBA employees.”
A former employee at a training camp in Xinjiang – a region known for concentration camps full of Chinese Muslims known as Uyghurs – told ESPN that working at the camp was like “World War II Germany.” Another former employee said the camp was like “a sweat camp for athletes.” One former coach told the outlet, “we were basically working for the Chinese government.”
ESPN reported that multiple coaches quit over the physical abuse they witnessed.
More from The Daily Wire:
<blockquote>NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum, who oversees international operations, claimed that the league received a few complaints about the abuse, and claimed that the incidents were never reported to top league officials.
Numerous officials who worked for the NBA in China said that the level of abuse was “much more prevalent” than what Tatum had claimed.
One coach said that a Chinese coach threw a ball at a young player’s face from point-blank range and then “kick[ed] him in the gut.”</blockquote>
Yet CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer failed to ask NBA commissioner Adam Silver about anything related to the league and China. Blitzer interviewed Silver for nearly 16 minutes but focused on bringing basketball back amid continuing coronavirus fears. The interview with CNN took place two hours after ESPN dropped its report.
Silver has championed progressive social justice policies in the United States, allowing athletes to place league-approved statements on their jerseys – none of which pertain to the horrors currently occurring in China regarding Hong Kong or Uyghur internment camps.
When the Chinese training camps were announced in 2016, Silver emphasized that education would be part of the program.
&#8220;Top international prospects will benefit from a complete approach to player development that combines NBA-quality coaching, training and competition with academics and personal development,&#8221; Silver said at the time.
The ESPN report noted that players in the camps were not attending classes.

CNN China

In 16-Minute Interview, Wolf Blitzer Doesn’t Once Question NBA Commissioner About China’s Abusive Basketball Academies

Wolf Blitzer

<a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00703975/1427451/sa/ALL/817">Itemized receipts</a> from the Federal Election Commission show that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, under whose stewardship the NBA has adopted a supine position when it comes to Communist China, has committed the maximum donation to the Joe Biden campaign.
“Listed on Page 817 of the report, Silver even listed his occupation as ‘NBA/Commissioner,” Outkick the Coverage <a href="https://www.outkick.com/adam-silver-gives-max-donation-to-biden-campaign/">reports</a>.
In June 2019, Silver <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-commissioner-endorses-not-saying-owner-im-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR2fTI-JMSzy17h6OjvYrkePYW8zgJoqtKBxwtVeO13d06pxhdXBuV4e8Bk">endorsed the idea</a> that the league should not use the term “owner.” Speaking to TMZ Sports about the growing movement among some teams to ban the term, Silver stated, &#8220;We moved away from that term years ago … I don&#8217;t want to overreact to the term because, as I said earlier, people end up twisting themselves into knots avoiding the use of the word owner. But, we moved away from that term years ago in the league … We call our team owners &#8216;Governor of the team&#8217; and &#8216;alternate Governor.'&#8221;
Referencing the NBA’s approval of politically Left statements on players’ jerseys, Outkick the Coverage’s Clay Travis stated, “If the NBA players, coaches and commissioner want to argue the league should be making political statements in this country, which they clearly are with names on the back of jerseys changed to player causes and ‘Black Lives Matter’ spelled out on the court itself, how in the world can the league express respect for communist Chinese values while tearing down American values?”
Silver’s craven position on China was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/backfire-nba-houston-rockets-cower-to-communist-china-get-blasted-online">in full evidence</a> in October 2019, when Houston Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted out support for Hong Kong, using the graphic, &#8220;Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A bunch of us have shared this, but <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICYMI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ICYMI</a>, here&#39;s what <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoustonRockets</a> GM Daryl Morey tweeted that offended his bosses and league officials <a href="https://t.co/agjiLZjC2R">pic.twitter.com/agjiLZjC2R</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1181056501303123969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Ringer <a href="https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/nba/2019/10/6/20901828/daryl-morey-hong-kong-china-houston-rockets-tweet-controversy">reported</a>, &#8220;After general manager Daryl Morey expressed support in a since-deleted tweet for pro-democracy efforts in Hong Kong, the Chinese government, the Chinese Basketball Association, and various Chinese businesses quickly denounced Morey and moved to sever ties with the Rockets. As a consequence, league sources told The Ringer that Rockets ownership has debated Morey’s employment status and whether to replace him.&#8221;
NBA chief communications officer Mike Bass responded to Morey’s tweet with this statement:
<blockquote>We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable. While Daryl has made it clear that his tweet does not represent the Rockets or the NBA, the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them. We have great respect for the history and culture of China and hope that sports and the NBA can be used as a unifying force to bridge cultural divides and bring people together.</blockquote>
Daryl Morey also apologized for standing up for freedom, tweeting: &#8220;I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives. I have always appreciated the significant support our Chinese fans and sponsors have provided and I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or misunderstanding them was not my intention. My tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA.&#8221;
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tweeted: &#8220;So let me get this straight. @HoustonRockets GM Daryl Morey expresses support for Hong Kong democracy movement &amp; Chinese government pressures NBA to fire him? Moment of truth for NBA. Will they bow to pressure from repressive, authoritarian govt?&#8221; He added, &#8220;Chinese govt has a million people locked in concentration camps &amp; is trying to brutally repress Hong Kong demonstrators – and NBA wants to &#8216;bridge cultural divides&#8217;? Cultural divides?&#8221;
In October 2019, the NBA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-bans-media-access-while-in-china-because-it-puts-players-in-a-complicated-and-unfair-position">released a statement</a> saying that allowing press to continue to ask questions of players in China put players in a “complicated” and “unfair” position. “They [the teams] have been placed into a complicated and unprecedented situation while abroad and we believe it would be unfair to ask them to address these matters in real time,&#8221; the statement said, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/11/sport/nba-press-conference-china-hong-kong-spt-intl/index.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twCNN&amp;utm_term=link&amp;utm_content=2019-10-11T11%3A23%3A16">according to CNN</a>.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Memphis Grizzlies – Game Four

NBA Commissioner Maxes Out On Donation To Biden Campaign, Report Says

Joe Biden

On Friday, Senator Josh Hawley fired off a <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/Hawley-Letter-NBA-China-Jersey-Messages.pdf">letter</a> to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in which he slammed the league for deciding players could emblazon social justice messages on their jerseys while he claimed the league didn’t approve any messages supporting the beleaguered people of Hong Kong, other victims of the Chinese Communist party, or law enforcement.
That prompted ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski to email Hawley this elegant response: “F*** you.”
Hawley responded on Twitter: “Don’t criticize #China or express support for law enforcement to @espn . It makes them real mad. @Outkick.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Don’t criticize <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> or express support for law enforcement to <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a>. It makes them real mad ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/Outkick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Outkick</a>⁩ <a href="https://t.co/WJDxrotUBD">pic.twitter.com/WJDxrotUBD</a>
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1281604989593559040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Wojnarowski later offered an <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1281650976319868930">apology</a> for his email.
According to <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29405787/source-nba-union-agree-list-social-messages-put-jerseys">ESPN</a>, the approved messages included: Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can&#8217;t Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.
Hawley began his letter by writing: “On July 3, the National Basketball Association (NBA) came to an agreement with the NBA players union allowing players to wear certain social and political messages on their jerseys, almost all aligned with the message of recent anti-police protests. Conspicuously missing from the list of approved phrases are any in support of the victims of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the people of Hong Kong, whose remaining freedoms are being extinguished by the CCP’s newly-enacted national security law.”
He continued by citing the NBA kowtowing to the Chinese Communist regime: “Given the NBA’s troubled history of excusing and apologizing for the brutal repression of the Chinese Communist regime, these omissions are striking. Last October, you no doubt recall, you chose to apologize to the CCP after Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets, spoke up on behalf of the Hong Kong protestors.”
Then Hawley outlined the NBA’s response when he called them out:
<blockquote>Following that shameful display, I encouraged you to reverse course. Instead, you have spent the intervening months deepening the NBA’s ties to the CCP. Just last week, you described the October incident as “a bump in the road” in the NBA’s relationship with the Chinese government. You went on to say that you understand that the CCP has “a different view of &#8230; how things should be done,” and that you hope the NBA and the CCP will be able to “find mutual respect for each other.”</blockquote>
He laced into Silver and the NBA: “What offensive nonsense. No amount of profit can justify collaborating with a regime for which violent suppression and enslavement are routine tools of governance. The league’s new policy suggests a newfound commitment to enhanced employee expression. But that free expression appears to stop at the edge of your corporate sponsors’ sensibilities. And for woke capital today, profits from the Chinese market are more popular than patriotism. The truth is that your decisions about which messages to allow and which to censor – much like the censorship decisions of the CCP – are themselves statements about your association’s values.”
Hawley continued, “If I am right – if the NBA is more committed to promoting the CCP’s interests than to celebrating its home nation – your fans deserve to know that is your view. If not, prove me wrong. Let your players stand up for the Uighurs and the people of Hong Kong. Let them stand up for American law enforcement if they so choose. Give them the choice to write ‘Back the Blue’ on their jerseys. Or ‘Support our Troops.’ Maybe ‘God Bless America.’ What could be more American than that?”
He threw down the gauntlet:
<blockquote>With your new policy, you have crossed the line of sanctioning specific political messages. There is no avoiding the work of clarifying the association’s values now. This is a time for you to make clear what your league believes about human rights and about the nation that is your home. Your silence on these questions speaks volumes.
With that in mind, I request your response to the following questions by July 29, 2020:</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Is the NBA prepared to allow its players to wear phrases in support of the United States, the American military, and U.S. law enforcement personnel, such as “God Bless America,” “Support Our Troops,” or “Back the Blue”? Will it censor players wearing such messages on their jerseys?</li>
<li>Are public reports correct that the list of phrases approved for display on NBA players’ jerseys does not include messages in support of victims of the Chinese Communist Party?</li>
<li>If a player chooses to display a message of support for victims of the Chinese Community Party on their jersey, will the NBA allow the player to wear their jersey or will it censor that player in order to avoid drawing Beijing’s ire?</li>
<li>How does the NBA plan to defend NBA players and employees against retaliation by the Chinese Communist Party if they choose to speak out against the Party’s actions in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, or elsewhere?</li>
<li>Is the NBA prepared to publicly condemn any attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to silence or punish these individuals?</li>
</ol>

Secretary Mnuchin Testifies In Senate Hearing On CARES Act Implementation

GOP’s Hawley Rips NBA For Approving Social Justice Messages While Reportedly Excluding Supporting Hong Kong, Law Enforcement. ESPN Reporter Snaps, ‘F*** You’

Black Lives Matter

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed hope that his league and the Chinese Communist Part (CCP) “can find mutual respect for each other” despite Beijing’s “different” views.
Silver appeared to downplay China’s numerous and ongoing human rights violations committed by its aggressive, authoritarian government in an interview with Time Magazine released on Monday. Time interviewed Silver as part of its Time 100 Talks series with some of the most influential people in U.S. politics and culture.
Asked if the NBA’s relationship with Beijing has improved since a team manager offended the CCP earlier this year, Silver responded, “I feel it has.” He noted that the state-owned distribution platform Tencent broadcasts NBA games across China. The league is dependent on the Chinese government to maintain agreements <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2019/10/09/nba-china-hong-kong-whats-at-stake/3912447002/">generating</a> at least $500 million annually for the league, and likely much more.
“You know, we’ve continued a dialogue with the Chinese, with our business partners there, [and] in certain cases, with certain government officials. And, you know, we’re just going to keep at it,” Silver said.
“We’ve had a long history in China. and certainly, this is a bump in the road in our relations. Obviously, I think we all understand each other,” Silver continued. “You know, as I’ve said before, we come to China with a certain set of core American values and principles. I understand also they have a different form of government, and they have a different view how things have been done, how things should be done. Hopefully, we can find mutual respect for each other.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In <a href="https://twitter.com/TIME?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TIME</a> interview released today (one day after Uighur genocide report &amp; same day China carried out Hong Kong takeover), <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a> Commish Adam Silver said he understands China has &quot;a different view of how things should be done&quot; &amp; &quot;hopefully we can find mutual respect for eachother.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eQqN2l6fAN">pic.twitter.com/eQqN2l6fAN</a>
&mdash; Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1278063414611521536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Silver’s interview aired hours after China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weapon-of-repression-china-passes-hong-kong-national-security-law-cracking-down-on-dissent">enacted</a> expansive legislation purportedly outlawing acts of terrorism and sedition in Hong Kong. On Wednesday, Chinese authorities used the law to justify cracking down on thousands of protesters. Police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-begins-brutal-crackdown-under-new-law-in-hong-kong-starts-arresting-those-calling-for-freedom">arrested</a> several demonstrators carrying signs that called for “Hong Kong Independence.”
The day before Silver’s interview aired, a report on China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/creeping-genocide-china-is-forcing-abortions-and-birth-control-on-thousands-of-minorities">revealed</a> that the authoritarian state is systemically oppressing thousands of minority women in its Xinjiang province, forcing them to abort unborn children and injecting them with unknown chemicals that can leave women infertile. One expert described the Chinese government’s operation as a “creeping genocide” meant to stamp out minority cultures and subsume them into China’s dominant Han population.
Silver and the NBA are showing off the league’s values by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-to-paint-black-lives-matter-on-sides-of-disney-courts-allow-players-to-put-social-justice-messages-on-jerseys">painting</a> “Black Lives Matter” on the sidelines of courts being used to restart the 2020 season. NBA players will also be allowed to place social justice messages on their uniforms. The symbolism is to show the league’s commitment to furthering social justice and solving racial inequality.
The NBA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-commissioner-we-certainly-didnt-apologize-to-the-chinese-government">capitulated</a> to China last year after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted out a statement of solidarity with protests happening in Hong Kong at the time against Chinese attempts to establish control over the region. The tweet prompted backlash from Chinese authorities against the league, which Silver responded to by whitewashing China’s human rights record and distancing himself and the league from Morey’s statement and the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

NBA Commissioner: China Has ‘A Different View,’ We Should ‘Find Mutual Respect’

Social Justice

According to league sources, a single, seemingly innocuous tweet by an NBA general manager cost the league as much as $200 million.
The multi-million-dollar tweet, posted by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey on October 4, simply expressed solidarity with the protesters in Hong Kong pushing back against the invasive Chinese communist regime. &#8220;Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,&#8221; Morey tweeted. Those seven words sparked a massive controversy that the NBA struggled to contain for weeks and, according to newly reported data, appears to have cost the league nine figures.
In response to Morey&#8217;s brief tweet expressing solidarity with Hong Kong protesters, Tencent, the digital rights holder of the NBA in China, quickly <a href="https://twitter.com/titan_plus/status/1180830746514079745">announced</a> that Morey was blacklisted and all streaming of the Rockets would be blacked out. The Chinese Basketball Association, meanwhile, issued a &#8220;strong condemnation&#8221; of the GM&#8217;s expression of support for the protesters. &#8220;We want to express our indignation and strong condemnation,&#8221; the <a href="https://twitter.com/titan_plus/status/1180830746514079745">statement</a> read. &#8220;We have already stopped our cooperation with the Houston Rockets, and continue to urge them to give a clear answer on this matter.&#8221; The end result was more limited NBA coverage in China and fewer sponsorships, which, as <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28596920/sources-nba-set-release-revised-2020-21-salary-luxury-tax-projections">ESPN</a> reported Wednesday, has taken a toll on the league&#8217;s bottom line.
&#8220;China&#8217;s decision to pull sponsorships and television coverage because Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong in October is believed to have cost the NBA anywhere between $150 million and $200 million,&#8221; ESPN reported. Citing front-office executives with the league, ESPN reports that the loss of that China-driven revenue &#8220;has caused many teams to prepare for the possibility that the original 2020-21 cap projection of $116 million could drop as far as $113 million.&#8221;
The network, which has a major <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2221854-nba-announces-new-media-deals-with-turner-disney-through-2024-25-season">media deal</a> with the NBA, predicted that the potential drop in revenue will likely not &#8220;significantly impact the deadline behavior of teams,&#8221; noting that &#8220;only seven teams are currently poised to have salary-cap space above the projected $9.8 million midlevel exception&#8221; and the less than &#8220;strong&#8221; free agent talent pool.
The fallout from the China-NBA free speech debacle hasn&#8217;t just been financial; the NBA&#8217;s reputation as a &#8220;progressive&#8221; league has likewise taken a hit.
Amid pressure, Morey quickly deleted the tweet, while the NBA issued a <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1181007400729489409/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> describing the post as having “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable.”
The NBA&#8217;s initial response sparked accusations that the league had &#8220;caved to Chinese censorship,&#8221; prompting NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to attempt to &#8220;clarify&#8221; the league’s stance, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/08/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-says-players-executives-are-free-comment-china/">stating</a> the league “will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues.” Morey, said Silver, has a right to “exercising his freedom of expression.”
But while the league scrambled to minimize the financial and reputational damage, it also made the notable decision to <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nba-wont-allow-players-and-coaches-to-talk-to-media-before-games-in-china-2019-10-11">shut down</a> press appearances for players before and after games in China. The decision came after a series of problematic responses from stars, including the Lakers&#8217; LeBron James, whose ham-fisted statements inspired yet more blowback against the league.
In response to the situation, James chided Morey for expressing support for the pro-democracy demonstrators and painted the league as the true victims in the situation. “I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke,” James told reporters.  “So many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So, just be careful what we tweet and say and what we do even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, there can be a lot of negatives that comes with that too.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
LeBron James rips Daryl Morey, says Morey was uneducated. Says, “We do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negatives that come with that too.” Really. <a href="https://t.co/ZTw6a3FZ5n">https://t.co/ZTw6a3FZ5n</a>
&mdash; Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1183921775647875072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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After intense backlash, James specifically named his team as victims in the mess. &#8220;My team and this league just went through a difficult week,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Pro-Hong Kong Activists Protest Outside NBA Opening-Night Games

Report: Here’s How Much Money That Pro-Hong Kong Tweet Cost The NBA

You can say this for the Chinese government: they may be a gang of murderous, oppressive, lying thugs, but they’ve done American culture a big favor. They’ve exposed our sanctimonious cultural classes for the phonies they are.
Let’s start with Blizzard Entertainment, the video game company that produced Diablo. Diablo was a great game, an immersive story of a knight facing the supernatural powers of darkness. I was so amazed by its beauty and realism that I played it obsessively, killing off hordes of demons until I broke my computer mouse.
The story was wonderful — but the storytellers were hollow men, frauds who had the skill to create cartoon heroes while siding with the real demons, the Chinese. The company suspended professional gamer Chung Ng Wai from competition for a year after he called for Hong Kong’s liberation in a post-game interview. After being shamed by the fans, they cut his punishment to six months — a move so cynical and empty of moral understanding it made the situation even worse.
Because: Punish him for what? For standing up for the heroes of the Hong Kong streets who are risking all in protests against the monsters of Beijing?
And make no mistake about it: the Chinese are a government of monsters. There are no shades of gray here. Their Maoist forefathers slaughtered eight New York Cities worth of individuals in the name of their foul philosophy. As late as 2015, they were tying women down to sterilize them and forcibly abort their children. They disappear dissenters and then harvest their organs for transplant — I know, it sounds like one of those &#8217;80s medical thrillers, but it’s true. They’ve got religious minorities in “re-education camps,” a phrase that makes my gorge rise even when I just write it down.
So Blizzard tells a story about a hero fighting demons, then punishes a hero for fighting demons. And for what? For their dreams of a vast Chinese marketplace. For money.
Hollow men. Straw men. What a bunch of phonies.
And how about the NBA? Apologizing for a tweet supporting the Hong Kong freedom fighters. Sending their top athletes out to kowtow to the Chinese tyrants. Tossing out fans who brought pro-freedom signs and t-shirts to games. What about the NFL, who crawled to their Chinese overlords in 2004 after an image of the protesters in Tienanmen Square accidentally found its way into a celebration of liberty in the Super Bowl half-time show?
They tell stories too, don’t they? Stories about the evil American police. Stories about how courageous they are to kneel during the National Anthem, to disrespect the flag of the United States — a protest without consequence, without danger, because they live in the United States where they’re free. And yet for a few dollars more, they bend the knee to real-life present day slave masters.
Hollow men. Phonies.
And what about the sportscasters at ESPN, who couldn’t keep their fat, stupid mouths shut about how nasty George W. Bush was? Who tried to make heroes out of the ballplayers disrespecting our flag. But now, when it comes time to speak up for real heroes fighting real bad guys, they go silent at the orders of their parent company Disney.
And yeah, what about Disney? With all their woke cartoon stories preaching to us about diversity and tolerance and “strong” girls. The people who bring you those messages are protecting their Chinese market by silencing protests against the oppressors of minorities.
Stinkers. Fakes. Phonies. Hollow men.
Listen, I’ve been a professional novelist all my adult life, and I’ll be the first to admit: no storyteller can wholly live up to the courage of his own heroes. Having flaws, making mistakes, failing to do the right thing — these are traits shared by one hundred percent of human beings. And yet our small-minded, bigoted, “woke” culture punishes people for all those things.
What then shall we do to these truly hollow men, who aren’t making mistakes, who aren’t acting in error, but are actually living out their money-first philosophy, who are consciously and purposefully betraying the good for a Yuan?
They are talented people, no doubt; gifted people. Some of the stories they tell are great. Their athletic feats are amazing.
But from now on, when they speak to us of politics and culture — when they step out of their professional zone and preach to us about how to live and who to vote for — we have to remember this:
They are hollow men. Straw men. A bunch of phonies.

“I Love China” sign in front of NBA flagship store

KLAVAN: What A Bunch Of Phonies

Blizzard Entertainment

ESPN

Free Speech

President Trump weighed in for the first time Wednesday on the ongoing NBA-China debacle by publicly shaming two high-profile coaches for &#8220;pandering to China.&#8221;
Championship-winning coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich, said Trump, refuse to voice criticism of Communist China&#8217;s oppressive policies but seem to have no such hesitations about talking &#8220;very badly&#8221; about the U.S.
The NBA&#8217;s China mess began when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong against China&#8217;s attempts to erode the autonomy of the region and the civil rights of citizens. In response, the Chinese government and the Chinese Basketball Association denounced the GM and threatened to cut ties with the Rockets. The NBA quickly took steps to appease the communist regime, apologizing for having &#8220;deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China,&#8221; while Morey deleted the tweet and apologized for expressing solidarity with pro-democracy protesters.
Asked about the controversy on Monday, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kurr, who hasn&#8217;t been shy in the past about expressing his political views, refused to offer an opinion, drawing widespread criticism.
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Steve Kerr has no comment on NBA’s China issues. He comments on every Trump tweet and can’t support democracy in China? What a complete and total coward. <a href="https://t.co/Fr4FJIaOW0">pic.twitter.com/Fr4FJIaOW0</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1181507119494959105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Popovich has likewise refused to give a direct comment on the issue, only praising NBA commissioner Adam Silver for supposedly supporting free speech because, after saying the league was &#8220;apologetic&#8221; about the situation, Silver said &#8220;we are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression.&#8221;
The commissioner &#8220;came out strongly for freedom of speech,&#8221; Popovich <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/09/gregg-popovich-praises-adam-silver-courage-china-takes-dig-trump/">said</a> Tuesday, despite Silver&#8217;s initial pandering and belated defense of free expression. The San Antonio Spur&#8217;s coach then turned the moment into an opportunity to once again bash Trump.
&#8220;[Silver has] been a heck of a leader in that respect and very courageous,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Then you compare it to what we’ve had to live through the past three years, it’s a big difference. A big gap there, leadership-wise and courage-wise. It wasn’t easy for him to say. He said that in an environment fraught with possible economic peril. But he sided with the principles that we all hold dearly, or most of us did until the last three years. I’m thrilled with what he said. The courage and leadership displayed is off the charts by comparison.&#8221;
Trump, who&#8217;s been in a long-running public feud with Kerr and Popovich, addressed the controversy for the first time Wednesday.
Asked if the Chinese are &#8220;wrong to be putting pressure on the NBA,&#8221; Trump said, &#8220;Well the NBA&#8217;s a different thing. I watch this guy Steve Kerr and he was like a little boy, he was so scared to be answering the question. He wouldn&#8217;t even answer the question — he was shaking, &#8216;Oh, oh, oh, I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t know.'&#8221;
&#8220;He didn&#8217;t know how to answer the question, and yet he&#8217;ll talk about the United States very badly,&#8221; Trump added. As for Popovich, Trump said, &#8220;sort of the same thing, but he didn&#8217;t look quite as scared actually.&#8221;
Overall, he said, &#8220;they talk badly about the United States, but when [they talk] about China, they don&#8217;t want to say anything bad.&#8221;
&#8220;I watch the way that Kerr and Popovich and some of the others were pandering to China, and yet to our own country, it&#8217;s like they don&#8217;t respect it. It&#8217;s like they don&#8217;t respect it,&#8221; Trump concluded. &#8220;I said, &#8216;What a difference — isn&#8217;t it sad?&#8217; It&#8217;s very sad. To me, it&#8217;s very sad.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
President Trump criticizes Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich — both vocal critics of Trump — when asked about China putting pressure on the NBA: &#8220;They talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don&#8217;t want to say anything bad&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD">https://t.co/rR2dKOelYD</a> <a href="https://t.co/am9hMQcGG3">pic.twitter.com/am9hMQcGG3</a>
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1182033884080267264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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One of the more outspoken stars of Kerr&#8217;s team, Stephen Curry, has likewise demurred to give a substantive answer when asked about the Hong Kong protests. While admitting that the NBA has been &#8220;really outspoken&#8221; about important issues, Curry said he just doesn&#8217;t &#8220;know that history well enough to kind of speak on it or to form an opinion yet, so that&#8217;s kind of where I&#8217;m at with the situation.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Steph Curry: “This situation, there’s a huge weight and gravity to it. There’s going to need to be some things to be sorted out. But I just don’t know enough about Chinese history and how that’s influenced modern society&#8230;This is not going away. So we’ll come back to it.” <a href="https://t.co/6h6ZGWHQtq">pic.twitter.com/6h6ZGWHQtq</a>
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href="https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1182040365550850048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related">As reported by <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27808516/president-donald-trump-critical-warriors-steve-kerr-spurs-gregg-popovich-response-china-controversy">ESPN</a> (which has come under<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-bows-to-communist-china-posts-illegitimate-propaganda-map-of-china"> criticism</a> for its own apparent pandering to China), when Curry was asked about Trump calling out his coach Wednesday, Curry said, &#8220;At this point, I don&#8217;t know how Coach reacts — or anybody else who gets called out like that — so you just keep doing what you&#8217;re doing for the most part.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-bows-to-communist-china-posts-illegitimate-propaganda-map-of-china">ESPN Bows To Communist China, Posts Illegitimate Propaganda Map Of China</a>
</aside>
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