LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Donald Trump went on Fox Sports Radio on Tuesday and did the Donald Trump stuff. He stumbled upon a response about relations with China-Hong Kong, told some of the common lies and brought up a large chunk of the 20-minute interview by congratulating him on things he did not have really completed.
And then he went to the NBA.
“Basketball doesn’t work,” Trump said, “because of the way they treat our flag and our national anthem.”
This was inevitable, right? The waters were hit last week when Trump called athletes kneeling for the national anthem “shameful,” claiming he turned off his television when he saw NBA players take a knee. LeBron James replied, suggesting basketball would not miss his viewership. Doc Rivers pointed to his hat, imprinting the word VOTE on the front. “[This] is what our president is trying to get us not to do, “Rivers said. What I think is just as shameful. “
On Tuesday, Trump dug deeper.
“I think [the kneeling] “Trump has been terrible for basketball,” Trump said. “Look at the basketball games. They are down to a very low number. They have enough politics with guys like me. They don’t need more because they stand up for the shot. There was a resentment about the NBA, as it was done. The NBA is in trouble. Big problems. Bigger problems than they understand. ”
Addiction.
Let’s start with the actual inaccuracies, of which there are several. The NBA’s ratings are not “a low number,” as Trump suggested. The reviews have not, as some have hoped, doubled the theory that returning live events would send sports fans to their televisions. But the first full week averaged 1.56 million viewers, 4% down from the pre-pandemic average. Ratings deepen in the second week, but remember – outside of the race for the final playoff spot in the West, a race that most television-friendly star, Zion Williamson, has barely been a part of – these games are for the largely unimportant.
Many of the top stars are injured, resting as both.
The NBA does not comment on the ratings.
But until the playoffs begin, it won’t be about their panic either.
NBA players are not political in the bubble, at least not for the support of a candidate. No one walks in the sweltering Florida heat with BOOT BID T-shirts sticking to their skin. They are not kneeling for Trump, but for Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT who shot and killed police in her home last March. They strive to draw attention to incidents of police brutality, which Jaylen Brown would like to see redistributed as domestic terrorism. They kneel because their dealings with police have been much different than those with a lighter skin color.
“Some Americans have embraced the birthright and the privilege of seeing policemen as protectors, perhaps even peacemakers, themselves. [as heroes], ”Said Brown. “I’m not from that side of America.”
Besides – Trump doesn’t really do that care about kneeling. He did not serve. He picked up five –five!—Military proposal in the 1960s, insufficient prevention of the Vietnam War. Everyone can see his passion is politics. Trump is coming up with a challenging reelection campaign, and there’s a broad swad of voters who refuse to believe that a black athlete’s knee is anything but respect for the military, national anthem champions who, let’s face it eyes, are more likely to chew popcorn or take bathroom breaks than stand by attention.
Trump was teased about the NBA’s relationship with China and, yes, this is where the league has earned criticism. “The way they comply with China, the way they bow to China, it’s a shame, honestly,” Trump said. The NBA has raised cash from China, close to $ 400 million, per Adam Silver, and with league interest growing by the year, the NBA hopes to earn more. When Rockets GM Daryl Morey fired FREE HONG KONG ”in a tweet that devastated Chinese officials, the NBA’s first response was bad, at best.
When James, the NBA’s biggest star, was asked about Morey’s tweet in October last year, he fumbled with an answer that Morey actually owed, a reaction that rippled with reminders of how much money James makes in China. Last month, ESPN published allegations of abuse at three training academies in China, facilities that one U.S. coach described as “a sweat camp for athletes.” According to the Chinese government, more than a million Ugars are being targeted, placing the predominantly Turkish-speaking ethnic group in oppressive reform camps.
The NBA needs to answer for that.
It should consider separating its relationship with China, at least as long as its order on human rights remains uneasy.
But should players be kept to the same standard? Asking James to talk about the situation in Hong Kong with the same passion he has for problems at home is wild. James has libbe these problems. Before he was LeBron James he was just a child trying to climb his way out of poverty. Many NBA players share a similar story. They do not read about dangerous encounters with police – they have their own. “You could be killed in your own backyard, reaching for your wallet,” Brown said. “Your parents have to teach you certain behaviors because of the fear that if you enter the police, you might not get home.”
Sy to know that life.
They do not know the long, complicated history of China and Hong Kong. Not enough to make any kind of lengthy comment about it. The fact that some of their income comes from Chinese citizens who buy sneakers does not oblige them to do so either.
Besides: In China, Trump cannot claim a morally high ground. He is now critical of China, with the coronavirus emerging on Chinese soil, but that is a relatively new development. For years, Trump has sought a cushy relationship with China. As recently as last year, he called the violent clashes between Hong Kong and China “a very difficult situation”, adding “I hope it works for everyone, including China.” As a businessman, Trump sought a foothold in China. For the past four years, China has been doing rubber-stamping trades for Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
“This is utterly disingenuous revisionism motivated by his political instinct to attack black athletes and the NBA more than any interest in Hong Kong,” said Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama. “Trump was completely silent about the Hong Kong protests, and even praised Xi’s handling of them, at a time when the NBA’s controversy was taking place. To me, this says a lot more about how Trump gathers his real or perceived political opponents at home than what particular concern he has about Hong Kong. To believe that Trump’s concerns are real, you would have to believe that he cares about civil liberties and the right to peaceful protest, and his whole criticism of the NBA is just one indication that he does not. ‘
Trump does not even know what he is criticizing the NBA about. Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis has expressed strong views on the NBA’s unwillingness to condemn the Chinese invasion of Hong Kong. He asked Trump why Americans should care about China’s actions.
Travis is probably hoping for an answer that solves the human atrocities.
What he got was a messy word salad.
“Well, look, for years Hong Kong made a lot of money that we could have made in the New York Stock Exchange and our great exchange,” Trump said. “We have the biggest exchanges. We have the big dollar. The dollar, which I have made stronger, much stronger than ever. I hope people recognize that in the world of sports. ”
“Our country is in good shape and we are coming back so strong. It’s amazing when you look at the numbers we produce and compile. We are coming back very strongly. We have saved millions and millions of lives by shutting down and starting over. I will say that with Hong Kong we gave great incentives and cost us a fortune to keep Hong Kong viable and move on.
‘Now what we have done is all over. I ended it all. There is no incentive. We do not send money through incentives back to Hong Kong. We will make a lot more money because they are not competitive. It will be a competitive market. Can’t be with the government that runs it.
‘They’ll have a different kind of deal. We are not participating from the point of view of, we are not spending billions of dollars on living comfortably with them for freedom. That was OK. We would do that if they were free, but they are not free. It’s a part if you look, I mean, look at a map. It’s close to China, so it’s a bit difficult from certain points of view. We will do very well by not having a good competitor. I think it will be a competitor, but on a much smaller scale. ”
You get all that?
Me neither.
The NBA is not out of control, and questions about its relationship with China will – and should not – go anywhere. Mark Tatum, the NBA’s deputy commissioner, told ESPN that the league needs to exercise more oversight over the Chinese academies, but even there, the NBA needs to do more. Yet this is a fictional fairy tale, designed to upset a base of people, many who feel overwhelmed at the sight of peaceful demonstrations and more who needed Wikipedia to understand what the Hong Kong-China conflict was all about. stood over.
The NBA is in the middle of it now, and the league would be wise not to take the ace. Silver knew that when the NBA embraced the Black Lives Matter movement there would be some blowback, that conservative outlets would attack them, that thirsty politicians would be involved. It was expected, and it’s here. Trump hugged and puffed on the radio this week. Best to just lie back and blow yourself away.
.
