- Title: Shenzhen gears up for second Lakers-Nets match amid China NBA backlash
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: BANNER SHOWING LAKERS STAR PLAYERS' BANNER SHOWING PICTURE OF LAKERS STAR PLAYER LEBRON JAMES
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 12:40
- Keywords: exhibition game nets China NBA tweet fued basketball Lakers Shenzhen
- Location: SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA
- City: SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Basketball,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA002B0NIF5Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:China's Shenzhen geared up on Friday (October 11) to host an upcoming second preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers scheduled for the weekend amid continuing Chinese furore over a tweet made by a Houston Rockets manager executive supporting anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
No players or executives were made available for official briefings this week in China as the league grappled with the backlash from the quickly deleted tweet by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey last weekend in support of Hong Kong anti-government protests. Although banners advertising a Lakers-Nets game in Shanghai were removed, the Thursday (October 10) game still went on as planned.
''I think Morey's tweet has interfered with China's internal affairs…We should not bring politics into basketball, because every one of us who loves basketball just wants to watch a NBA game," said Chinese NBA fan Chen Mingqi, while waiting outside a hotel for a peak of his favourite Lakers players.
The NBA has apologised for the backlash to Morey's tweet but backed his ability to take a stand on the issue without speaking for the team, further angering Chinese authorities and threatening the NBA's business there, said to be worth more than $4 billion.
(Production: Joyce Zhou) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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