Miami (AFP)
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he was "delighted" by the position of NBA boss Adam Silver on freedom of expression as the controversy between Beijing and the prestigious North American basketball league could jeopardize lucrative partnerships with China.
Popovich, the oldest NBA-based coach and coach of the US World Cup basketball team in China a month ago, praised Silver for defending "the freedom of expression of the "NBA employees" after the famous tweet of a Houston Rockets leader (Daryl Morey) on Friday inviting support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, at the heart of an international controversy ever since.
The opportunity for the Spurs coach to implicitly oppose the boss of the NBA to the President of the United States, which he has already openly criticized in the past.
"I had the impression that I was being given my greatness," he said, openly referring to the slogan of the Donald Trump campaign (Make America Great Again), but without citing it. "It's a real leader, really brave, what a difference, whether in terms of leadership or courage, because it was not easy to say in this environment marked by financial risks," continued Popovich, a halo five NBA titles and his three best coach trophies. "Silver has supported the principles that we hold most dear to all of us, at least a majority of us, until the last three years," he added.
Adam Silver was expected in China on Wednesday for pre-season games between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets. The Middle Kingdom represents a colossal economic development challenge for the NBA, while some long-anticipated events related to these matches were already canceled by their organizers in protest against Morey's tweet and the position of the NBA.
© 2019 AFP