Senator Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, joined “The Story” on Thursday to discuss an explosive ESPN report alleging that Chinese coaches at three NBA training academies in the Asian country physically abused their players and did not they provided the promised schooling.
“It is a very disturbing report,” Cotton told presenter Martha MacCallum. As one of the [NBA] Employees said these were basically sweatshops for young Chinese children. And NBA employees saw the worst types of child abuse.
“Even,” Cotton later said, “they had one of these camps in northwest China, where China is running re-education gulags for a religious minority … compared to Nazi Germany in World War II. I understand that the NBA has a profound financial impact. ” ties to China, but you have to ask at some point, what’s wrong with the NBA? “
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The ESPN report detailed how the academies, which the NBA launched in 2016, appeared to be largely under the control of the Chinese government.
“For those of us who grew up watching the epic battles of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and then watched them go red, white, and blue for the [Olympic] Dream Team in 1992, the NBA stance right now is very disappointing, “said Cotton.
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“The NBA could take a firm stand here and call the Chinese Communist Party deception and ask them to stop these horrible practices,” added the senator. “Unfortunately, many of its stars and executives appear to be more concerned with earning a few more dollars in a communist country than defending basic human dignity and freedom.”
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The senator also noted that the NBA’s declared commitment to social justice appears to apply only within the borders of the United States.
“The NBA presents itself as the most politically and socially progressive of our professional sports leagues,” said Cotton. “And you can wear slogans on your jerseys that are NBA approved, but you can’t wear ‘Free Hong Kong.'”
