NBA Allegedly Caught In Biggest Scandal Of Their History, Accused Of Being In ‘Direct Connection’ To Abuses In China

By
Natalia Kay
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OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

ESPN published an article titled, “ESPN investigation finds coaches at NBA China academies complained of player abuse, lack of schooling.”

In the article from ESPN, Hong Kong protesters speak out about the NBA’s complicated relationship with China. The NBA faced complaints from its own employees over human rights concerns inside an NBA youth-development program in China, the ESPN investigation found.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is now accused of being linked in “direct connection” to human right abuses in China, according to a report from Red State.

This is quickly becoming considered the “biggest scandal in the league’s history.”

Connections between the NBA and China have been obvious for a long time, the report adds.

Superstar LeBron James, for example, notoriously refuses to answer basic questions about China’s abuses while simultaneously proclaiming himself a leader against racism in America.

ESPN published an article titled, “ESPN investigation finds coaches at NBA China academies complained of player abuse, lack of schooling.”

In the article from ESPN, Hong Kong protesters speak out about the NBA’s complicated relationship with China. The NBA faced complaints from its own employees over human rights concerns inside an NBA youth-development program in China, the ESPN investigation found.

Here’s more:

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, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the complaints.

The NBA ran into myriad problems by opening one of the academies in Xinjiang, a police state in western China where more than a million Uighur Muslims are now held in barbed-wire camps. American coaches were frequently harassed and surveilled in Xinjiang, the sources said. One American coach was detained three times without cause; he and others were unable to obtain housing because of their status as foreigners.

A former league employee compared the atmosphere when he worked in Xinjiang to “World War II Germany.”

In an interview with ESPN about its findings, NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum, who oversees international operations, said the NBA is “reevaluating” and “considering other opportunities” for the academy program, which operates out of sports facilities run by the Chinese government. Last week, the league acknowledged for the first time it had closed the Xinjiang academy, but, when pressed, Tatum declined to say whether human rights were a factor.

Red State comments on the issue:

Until now, the league and its players have tried to distance themselves from the communist state, playing it off as a foreign issue they can’t control. They are just there to play basketball, right? Except, these camps are NBA sanctioned and the abuse happened directly under NBA control.

What does Lebron James have to say about this? Well, we don’t know because the players have been told not to comment. Is that the kind of behavior you’d expect from a league that’s innocent?

In hindsight, this may explain the disposition of some NBA owners and players. It seems probable they knew this was happening and that it would eventually become public. A few weeks ago, Mark Cuban tied himself into knots to avoid talking about China’s malfeasance while arguing with Ted Cruz. Was the CCP using these revelations of abuse to keep everyone from criticizing the regime? I don’t know, but it would explain why owners, players, and coaches have gone to such great lengths to not talk about Hong Kong or the Uighurs

Of course, if an NBA owner, player, or coach allowed themselves to be muzzled like that in the face of such abuses, it would only be that much worse. Meanwhile, others in the media are helping the NBA sweep this all under the rug. We got this garbage last night after the ESPN story broke.

They are all about equality and stuff except when it comes to abuses in NBA camps in China, Hong Kong being oppressed, and Uighurs being sent to concentration camps.

CNN also did an at length interview with the NBA commissioner yesterday. Not a single question about China was asked by supposed journalist Wolf Blitzer.