By Andrew Rovit ’22, Sports Writer

China has been all over the news recently, and it has nothing to do with President Trump and American politics. There has been an ongoing conflict going on between the NBA and China’s government-owned businesses. As basketball is the most popular sport in China, with 50% of its citizens considering themselves fans, the NBA understands how China is key to their success as a company. The NBA currently has three international offices in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei, as well as numerous sponsors from China, creating a total of 4 billion dollars of revenue solely from China for the NBA. It is fair to say that the NBA would lose lots of money if their relationship with China is ruined.

The issues all started early in October when the Houston Rockets General Manager, Daryl Morey, tweeted his support of the protests in Hong Kong, a region still politically controlled by China. The Chinese government was outraged by Morey’s comment and the lack of repercussions by the NBA against Morey. While this was taking place, the NBA had already scheduled two exhibition games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers, sponsored by numerous Chinese companies. Yet, in response to Morey’s comments, most of these NBA sponsors in China terminated their contracts and agreements with the NBA which ended the NBA’s ability to use Chinese companies’ platforms to advertise the games. Thus, the games were not broadcast on TV, so fans across the world could not watch the games, and the media had limited access to the players, coaches, and NBA employees before and after the games. In addition, the withdrawal of the contracts meant that all of the promotional events planned between the players and the communities were cancelled. The games were played, but upon arrival back into the United States, one of the NBA’s most outspoken players, Lebron James, spoke negatively about the situation. James, a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, explained that he was angered by the comments made by Morey because he feels that Morey was “uneducated on this particular situation” and “misinformed.” He clarified his comments by stating that people should not be making very controversial statements on topics that they do not fully understand, and should fully comprehend the ramifications that the comment can have on other people around the world.

James’s comments represent morals that people in the NA community should live by. As students graduate Newark Academy and enter the larger world, in their college and broader communities, they need to make sure to understand the consequences for their actions, especially with the broad audience available with new technology. The NBA conflict with China began with one simple statement made on Twitter that turned into an expensive international conflict.  This conflict also shows how athletes can use their fame to make an influence on the future of our country. Lebron James, specifically, uses his influence to teach the youth to think about what they say before they say it. The new Newark Academy Athletic Director, John Amosa, had an interesting take on this topic. He said, “Athletes are in a unique position that they have a platform whereby they can express any view they so choose. It is a difficult position to be in when a question is asked to an athlete about an “unassociated” topic. An athlete needs to consider the purpose that accompanies the question and whether they are comfortable with the impact an answer may have. Many athletes are [positive] influencers and are thoughtful when they respond to the media.” The impact of small words can be seen having a large impact in the athletic world, which means we, as NA students, need to pay attention to the words we say surrounding athletics, academics, culture awareness and more. In retrospect, we need to think before we speak, and remember we should say stuff that helps others.