Honestly, this being sportswriting, the answer may well be that The Athletic will cowardly dodge anything political, but we'll see. I'm sure they noticed that many of the critical comments compared them to what Deadspin has been doing with its coverage here very unfavorably

198--Thanks for sharing, and I checked out the comments section and holy #### is that writer getting crushed.

To be clear, what’s happening here is part of something much larger and more terrifying than the original Gamergate. The Chinese government, one of the world’s most repressive regimes, one responsible for numerous ongoing outrages against human rights and privacy in and outside its borders—including a present-day program of genocide against its Muslim population in Xinjiang—is organizing to make it financially unfeasible and professionally suicidal for anyone in the world to criticize it, even mildly.

There is at least one thing that unites all basketball fans of every nation, creed, and tribe the world over, and has for many years: we all of us believe that this will definitely be the year the Trail Blazers sink out of the playoffs and back to .500ish obscurity.

it is important to understand the history and context of the demand for history and context, as offered by Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai
...
Tsai brought up the opium wars, the humiliation of the Qing dynasty, and the Rape of Nanjing, among other things, to explain why the “territorial integrity of China and the country’s sovereignty over her homeland” are “non-negotiable.” This is the standard script when the People’s Republic of China wants to weaponize nationalism—every provocation must be considered in the light of all historic provocations.

The script is nonsense
...
The message of a spiel like Tsai’s is that foreign institutions can coexist with the Chinese government on mutual terms of respect, as long as those institutions honor the boundaries around China’s nonnegotiable sensitivities. The truth, though, is that those boundaries are constantly moving. Ever since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which were supposed to celebrate China’s full integration into the international order, the government has been aggressively tightening the limits...

What are you going to do, after all, turn your back on 1.4 billion people? Or 1.399 billion, if you don’t count the 1 million Uighurs reportedly held in prison camps where their culture is trained out of them by force (in a territory where the NBA established a training camp)?

If you look at the swirl of demands, statements, apologies, retractions, overreactions, and poses that followed Morey’s original tweet, this might look like a complicated story, a story of accidental cultural conflict brought about through deep geopolitical nuance. It isn’t. It’s just another nasty little farce about money and power and the breathtaking speed with which 21st-century capitalists are prepared to sell out democracy for a Skee-Ball token. The Chinese market is strategically important to the NBA’s global expansion. The Rockets, the team that drafted Yao Ming in 2002, are the second-most-popular team in China, according to a recent survey. The Chinese authorities, like most autocratic governments, love manufacturing controversies that let them pretend to have the moral high ground while stirring up nationalist sentiment on social media. Everyone in this situation is acting out the role dictated to them by this set of circumstances. Almost none of it has do with principle, or even with sincere belief.

Tilman Fertitta, the Rockets’ owner, occasionally goes on CNBC to praise Donald Trump, from whom he bought an Atlantic City casino in 2011, and to say things like “Obamacare does not work.” He has no problem then turning around and declaring that the Rockets are a “non-political organization” to make nice with China, because what he means by “non-political organization” is that he thinks hundred-dollar bills are nice, and also #### you.
...
It’s likely that the NBA’s pursuit of its own business caused small but actual harm to the Hong Kong protesters this week. In walking back Morey’s brief moment of sincere political conviction, the league put out the message to anyone who was paying attention that the state of affairs in Hong Kong is somehow too sensitive and complex to take on any position at all, as if the only responsible outlook on the protests were a sort of grave, Thoughts and Prayers–ish bewilderment

Morris, who often cites his toughness as being from “North Philly,” was given a Flagrant 2 foul, which carries an automatic ejection. An NBA official said all Flagant 2’s are reviewed for potential suspension and the penalty would be served at the start of the regular season.

That is a fact Morris did not realize.

“It’s preseason,’’ Morris said. “I’d be concerned if it was regular season. I wouldn’t want to miss any regular-season games. If it was regular season I wouldn’t have done that. My team needs me.’’

Morris fist-bumped a Knicks fan on his way out and wore a smile on his face throughout his long walk to the locker room. When told later — after he had met with the media — any suspension would not be served until for the regular season, Morris let out an expletive.

Morris, who often cites his toughness as being from “North Philly,”

or, alternatively, if someone wanted to trade a star they might be able to get a very rich price next offseason.

“It’s preseason,’’ Morris said. “I’d be concerned if it was regular season. I wouldn’t want to miss any regular-season games. If it was regular season I wouldn’t have done that. My team needs me.’’

Morris fist-bumped a Knicks fan on his way out and wore a smile on his face throughout his long walk to the locker room. When told later — after he had met with the media — any suspension would not be served until for the regular season, Morris let out an expletive.

but I feel like Silver has basically told China to deal with it, the NBA isn't going to restrict speech on anyone.

I would be interested to see what would happen if a player said something. Morey is a team employee, so having him back down is one thing. But players are different. And some players are more different than others.

Players like money, just like everybody else.

Mark Strotman @markstrot
Otto Porter averaged 4.6 midrange attempts per game last season. Zach LaVine averaged 3.2 per game.

How many did they take last night in 39 combined minutes?

One, because Otto Porter's foot was on the line on a 3-pointer.

THAT is your biggest takeaway. 2019 arrived in Chicago.

Mark Strotman @markstrot

78 of the Bulls' 98 attempts came inside the restricted area or from the 3-point line. That's nearly 80% of their attempts. Chris Fleming and Roy Rogers already deserve raises.

Eric Nehm @eric_nehm

Asked Robin Lopez what he thought of Brook's tea celebration.

"It was a poor mimicry of mine. It didn't have any of the insight or any passion. His miming skills aren't what mine are."

Told Brook that Robin called it a poor mimicry.

Brook: He's a poor mimicry of me in general.

K.C. Johnson @KCJHoop

Robin Lopez on leaving Bulls for Bucks: "Obviously, it was an appealing offer, a very good organization top to bottom. They’re ideally trying to win now."

As for being teammates with Brook for 1st time since Stanford? "You can’t have everything."

weren't the newly collected heights to be made available by now?

K.C. Johnson @KCJHoop
FWIW, all the Bulls who were on last season's roster have same heights listed on this season's roster. There are some changes in weights, with Felicio moving from 265 to 280 pounds the biggest. Markkanen's listed weight dropped from 240 to 227 pounds.

and yet, every generation has a few remarkable athletes who stand up in the face of such overbearing hostility. jackie robinson; muhammad ali; curt flood; john carlos; tommy smith; jahlil okafor; michael sam; colin kaepernick; magic johnson.

?

   240. If on a winter's night a baserunner Posted: October 08, 2019 at 02:44 PM (#5887987)
Pretty sure that's a reference to this.

4500. aberg Posted: January 08, 2019 at 04:18 PM (#5803523)

favors, plumlee, carter, collins, okafor.

Your performance art of wedging Okafor into as many posts as possible is not unnoticed, nor is it unappreciated.

My only take on the adjusted heights is that opposing players should be embarrassed that a guy who is apparently only 6'5 has been the best big man defender in the league for years now.

Embiid is funny because a) such a big deal has been made of him being 7'2", and b) 6'11 3/4 sits riiiiiight below the threshold of a round number.

@DaneMooreNBA
In Timberwolves camp, to create habits of being an active cutter/rim-attacker, the coaching staff is incentivizing the action. In the scrimmages, players are getting a point + the ball back after drawing shooting fouls. Ryan Saunders calls it an “analytics-based scoring system”

@JonKrawczynski
Wolves hosted 120 basketball coaches from Minnesota at camp today. A big initiative from John Thomas and Ryan Saunders to establish a connection to the grassroots

@JonKrawczynski
Robert Covington was open and honest about his mental health struggles during his injury last year. Said he had to send his family away at one point so they weren't brought down as well. Saunders, Layden and Gregg Farnam helped him find a therapist.

I like some of the depth pieces Minnesota added- Napier, Layman, Bell, even Vonleh- but they might be baaaad. Who is the starting 5? Towns/Wiggins/Teague/Covington...? Okogie? Layman?

i'll eat a 1/3 pound of cooked bacon (on white toast, with some pickled jalapenos) for dinner)

I mean 7 feet tall and making millions in the NBA, but the good natured sh!t talking would be fun too...

For my own non-twin sons I'm cool with the millions and the NBA parts but the 7 foot business really seems like it would be difficult for my family's bottom line through the high school years. They already eat a lot and they're only 3 and 6.

It depends (from what I hear) on if they are playing big or small. The small line up has Covington as the 4, else he is the 3. Depending on him they fill in the final spot with whoever works for that role against the specific opponent.

Just a guess though.

My girls are not going to be seven footers, but based on what we've observed, they will definitely eat us out of house and home.

My wife and I had a daughter this summer. We're both tall. Baby was born in the 15th percentile in height and was up to 80th by month 2. I'm hoping she maintains this pace and gets up to 145th percentile by month 4, dunking (2-handed, of course) by month 8.

My wife is 6' and I'm 6'3", so I reckon the real struggle is going to be keeping her from being pigeonholed as a center growing up so I can crush her life under my vicarious dream of stardom as a big point guard.

Yep! Our only dependent out of the womb is a dog.

Kyle Neubeck @KyleNeubeck
Ben Simmons just made a 3. Standing O.

@jonjohnsonwip
Ladies & Gentlemen, I present....Ben Simmons
pic.twitter.com/z8jscj11Ox

When the Athletic did get around to covering the fallout from Morey’s tweet, though, they fell way short of “getting it right.” This article by senior NBA writer Joe Vardon is framed as a kind of explainer for the whole affair, but seems to take the Chinese establishment’s explanation for the outrage at face value. This had the unfortunate effect of presenting an authoritarian government’s propaganda uncritically, and under the guise of neutral journalism.

At the tail end of First Take’s extended discussion today about the ongoing debacle between the NBA and China, Stephen A. Smith had one final take he wanted to get off. He began auspiciously, if not with his trademark eloquence: “I would remind you that, throughout this world, one of the things that exists is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Shocking no one, host Molly Qerim just about broke her neck trying to rush to the commercial break:
...
I’m pretty sure Max Kellerman wasn’t the only one on set making that face.

“I would remind you that, throughout this world, one of the things that exists is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Chuck Salituro, the senior news director of ESPN, sent a memo to shows mandating that any discussion of the Daryl Morey story avoid any political discussions about China and Hong Kong, and instead focus on the related basketball issues. The memo, obtained by Deadspin, explicitly discouraged any political discussion about China and Hong Kong. Multiple ESPN sources confirmed to Deadspin that network higher-ups were keeping a close eye on how the topic was discussed on ESPN’s airwaves.
...
[SportsCenter] called the protestors in Hong Kong “anti-government” protestors.
...
High Noon’s Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre dedicated more than five minutes to their discussion, which while thoughtful as usual, also elided any discussion about what exactly Morey was supporting with his tweet:
...
Tony Reali threw the topic to Ramona Shelburne, who alluded to “both sides” of the “issue” without giving any sort of explanation of what those sides or issues were
...
the viewers were ill-served by Shelburne and the others so thoroughly dancing around what is at the heart of this story. You don’t have to be a scholar or expert in Chinese political systems to grasp and talk about what is happening in Hong Kong, especially with respect to Morey’s tweet
...
The idea that Chinese politics are simply too complex to talk about on sports TV just isn’t convincing.

It'll be interesting to see where this goes - China abandoning the NBA, what would be next there? Just abandoning the sport of basketball? That seems drastic and I wonder how well it would work.

Sacramento has a weird, weird team, but their floor ought to be kind of high - they don't have a lot of bad players.

I thought he purely chose money over principles, but I might have judged too quickly.

273--If they have Hollinger around, maybe I will subscribe. I have heard it is a good source.

For posterity, and since we do have people who really go through these archives, I think it's worth noting that Silver has seemingly been more supportive of Morey's free speech rights than his initial "regrettable" tweet would have indicated. I give him some credit for that. I thought he purely chose money over principles, but I might have judged too quickly.

“Believe me, the China situation bothers me,” the former commissioner told Sports Illustrated for a story published in November 2006. “And a voice at home (his wife, Diane Bock Stern) reminds me about it all the time. But at the end of the day, I have a responsibility to my owners to make money. I can never forget that, no matter what my personal feelings might be.”

"The de-Kobe-ing of Jayson Tatum has begun" is quite the click-baity headline for a certain subset of folks.

“Believe me, the China situation bothers me,” the former commissioner told Sports Illustrated for a story published in November 2006. “And a voice at home (his wife, Diane Bock Stern) reminds me about it all the time. But at the end of the day, I have a responsibility to my owners to make money. I can never forget that, no matter what my personal feelings might be.”

this isn't about profitability

this is about greed.

this isn't about profitability; the NBA is profitable with, or without, china. while the NBA is more profitable with china than it is without china, being in china is not a necessity.

this is about greed.

In this case though, I'm starting to think the NBA may have miscalculated. Churchill's old quote comes to mind; "You were given a choice between dishonor and war. You chose dishonor and you will have war."

Lowe's annual tiers column

If you're going to do a more-or-less proper write up of 26 teams (I laughed, but I don't count that joke about the Pistons as a write up), why not actually discuss every team?

I would be interested to see what would happen if a player said something.

Zion's shot chart is a work of art.

If you're going to do a more-or-less proper write up of 26 teams (I laughed, but I don't count that joke about the Pistons as a write up), why not actually discuss every team?