It’s been a tumultuous week for the NBA, as the league continues to weave its way through a scandal with China that started with a since-deleted tweet from Houston Rockets GM, Daryl Morey. The tweet lent support to Hong Kong protesters who are seeking independence from China’s government, sparking backlash from the country while the NBA had multiple preseason games in the country coming up. Two of those upcoming games are in between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, with the first one coming on Thursday.
It was recently reported that the game may be cancelled among all of the tension between the NBA and China, but Shams Charania of The Athletic/Stadium has just reported that as of now, the game is set to go on as planned.
As of now, all indications are that the Lakers/Nets game in China on Thursday will go on as scheduled, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 9, 2019
There’s plenty to unpack here, but first, if you want to hear our very own Honi Ahmadian speak about the intricacies of the situation, check that our here.
In regards to the actual basketball game that the Lakers and Nets are supposed to be playing in about 12 hours, with Charania’s report it sure looks like it’s going to happen. As I said previously, it was reported the game might be cancelled with a large billboard advertising the game even being taken down in the video below.
La relación entre la NBA y #China 🇨🇳 este de MAL en PEOR. Desde los tweets del GM de los #Rockets, #DarylMorey apoyando las protestas en #HongKong el país ha CANCELADO contratos con la NBA, tanto así que miren como quitan el billboard del juego entre los #Lakers y #Nets. pic.twitter.com/C2KxzkL5Ui
— foulyvalepr (Deportes con Felipe) (@foulyvalepr) October 9, 2019
Forget the controversy that’s at the heart of this situation, at this point we’ve reached the point where this is a safety issue. The Lakers and Nets players, a majority of which are American, will be playing in a country of people that get filtered news given to them by their government. That government is obviously not very happy with the NBA, which brings up the thought of what could possibly happen before, during, or after this game whether that’s protests, violence, or both.
Stay updated with us on the status of the Lakers/Nets games on Thursday and Saturday, but as of now the first seems set to happen.
The game tips off at 4:30 a.m. PST.