Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn questioned NBA executive Will Koenig during a Senate hearing on sports broadcasting, focusing on the league’s relationship with China.
In a recent Senate hearing, Senator Marsha Blackburn referenced Daryl Morey’s 2019 tweet supporting Hong Kong protesters, which led to significant financial losses for the NBA due to severed partnerships and broadcasting deals in China.
She pressed Koenig on whether the NBA was self-censoring to maintain its business ties with China, asking if the league had imposed restrictions on executives to avoid similar controversies.
Koenig firmly emphasized that the league allows its employees to express their opinions, regardless of financial consequences.
“Senator, I can certainly confirm that one of the NBA’s most important values is freedom of speech,” Koeing said. “In fact, the example you cited before of Daryl Morey, he was not disciplined or censored in any way in light of the comments that he made .”
In October 2019, then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sparked controversy when he tweeted “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” expressing support for pro-democracy protesters. The tweet quickly drew backlash from China, leading to the Chinese Basketball Association severing ties with the Rockets and China Central Television (CCTV) halting NBA broadcasts
The controversy led to sponsorship losses and strained relations between the NBA and China, with reports estimating that the league lost $400 million due to the incident. Morey, however, stood by his statement, saying he was “very comfortable” with his decision despite the consequences.
His departure from the Rockets in 2020 was widely seen as a result of the controversy, though the team did not publicly cite the tweet as the reason for his exit.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn Accuses Vanderbilt Medical Center of Concealing DEI Efforts
Senator Marsha Blackburn has placed Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) under scrutiny, alleging that the institution is secretly maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs despite federal mandates to eliminate them. In a letter, Blackburn accused VUMC of hiding DEI initiatives on password-protected websites instead of fully complying with President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at cutting DEI-related funding.
In response, VUMC spokesperson John Howser rejected the claims, asserting that the institution has already discontinued all DEI programs and adjusted its internal and external websites accordingly. He emphasized that VUMC remains fully compliant with federal regulations and continues to remove DEI-related content.
As the battle over DEI funding intensifies, Marsha Blackburn’s actions reflect the growing Republican opposition to diversity programs in research institutions.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
