Boycotted governor outraged over NBA's China stance

(Photo: Twitter)

The National Basketball Association's apology to China for a tweet by a team general manager supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement demonstrates the league's hypocrisy, contends a former governor who was the target of an NBA boycott.

Pat McCrory was at the helm of the state in 2016 when the legislature adopted a law requiring people to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex.

The NBA, following an outcry by transgender activists, moved its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, citing what it called moral principle.

McCrory, in an interview reported by the Daily Signal, noted the two faces the league now has exhibited.

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"I see hypocrisy," he said.

"They wanted to involve themselves with North Carolina commerce and an election, while not setting the same standard for China."

At the time of the boycott, the NBA said it "cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, [but] we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," referring to the law.

McCrory later lost re-election to pro-transgender Democrat Roy Cooper.

Under Cooper, the lawmakers rescinded the law.

McCrory cited the NBA's weakness in the face of Chinese authoritarianism during the boycott.

"I told the [NBA] commissioner they've got a lot of business in China. But they've got a lot of sponsors there, and that would cost them hundreds of millions."

The tweet that enraged China was by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who wrote: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong."

He deleted the tweet but China threatened to pull its sponsorships and cancel exhibition games anyway.

The NBA promptly issued apologies in English and Chinese.

The Daily Wire reported McCrory said he thought the NBA boycott of North Carolina was really about sponsorships at stake if NBA All-Star Weekend had been held in the state.

"They were losing some sponsorships; they told me that flat-out on the phone," he said.