| Victoria Jackson
While the NBA has enjoyed a long, loving relationship with China, things can go haywire very quickly when NBA star players or GMs decide to share their critical thoughts on China’s domestic politics and geopolitics.
Jim Yardley’s guest appearance on the New York Times’ “The Daily” podcast offers a great explainer of the rapid fallout when Darryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets (Yao Ming’s former team!), tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s anti-government protests. Yardley provides rich historical context about the NBA’s decadeslong efforts to grow its popularity in China, and if you’re in search of more Yardley analysis after listening to the podcast, check out his book, Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing.
Listen to The Daily anywhere you get your podcasts. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/podcasts/the-daily/NBA-china.html