Following his pro-Hong Kong, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey was promptly thrown under the bus by the team’s owner and now its star player.
When asked about Morey’s Twitter post which featured an image saying “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” James Harden was quick to apologize.
“We apologize. We love China,” the former NBA MVP said while standing beside new teammate Russell Westbrook in Tokyo where the team will play some exhibition games this week.
“We love playing there. Both of us, we go there once or twice a year,” he continued. “They show us the most important love so we appreciate them as a fan base and we love everything they’re about and we appreciate the support they give us, individually and as an organization. So, we love you.”
Harden is one of the few NBA figures to comment so far on the extremely sensitive controversy which threatens the NBA’s operations in China, where there are estimated to be more than half a billion basketball fans.
As the team that drafted Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets have long been one of China’s favorite teams and Harden is one of the league’s brightest stars. He makes annual trips to China as part of his $200 million contract with Adidas.
This summer he issued a different apology on Weibo after being pulled over by cops while riding a scooter in Shanghai.
