Senator Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David HawleyESPN suspends NBA reporter after unholy email to Hawley: Hillicon Valley report: Facebook considers political advertising ban | Senators Raise Concerns About Civil Rights Audit | Amazon reverses by telling workers to remove emails from Adrian Wojnarowski from TikTok ESPN Josh Hawley an F MORE bomb (R-Mo.) In an interview Monday, he called ESPN’s suspension of reporter Adrian Wojnarowski a distraction from the NBA’s relationship with China and said he would support a Senate summons from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Hawley said Wojnarowski, who was suspended by ESPN after responding to an email from Hawley’s press office with an expletive, should be reinstated.
The real concern, Hawley said, was that the NBA, which allows pre-approved messages for players to wear on the back of their jerseys in response to player participation in the Black Lives Matter protests, did not include any phrases regarding to China or law enforcement.
“If the NBA is going to put these social justice statements on the back of the uniforms, which is what they’re doing now, why is there nothing there about freedom for Hong Kong or the Uighurs or anything that has to do with the billions of dollars the NBA is making in China, “Hawley said Monday.” And you see the reporter’s response, and now ESPN, and you say oh, you know, well, the reporter, we’ll take care of that. We will shut him up. But they don’t want to address the central issue, which is the NBA’s relationship with China. ESPN has a slice of that pie. “
It is unclear if any player was pushing for messages about China on their jerseys. The push to have Black Lives Matter messages on T-shirts and in NBA courts stemmed from national protests against institutional racism after the May murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
That message was also part of negotiations between the NBA and the NBA Players Association that may allow the league to resume play in late July in a “bubble” environment in Orlando, as required by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hawley has vociferously criticized the NBA for its relationship with China. ESPN is a major NBA media partner and has also come under fire.
Last fall, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for protesters in Hong Kong and was criticized by China.
Hawley criticized the NBA for not offering more support to Morey, accusing the NBA and ESPN of bowing to Beijing. The Chinese government punished the NBA for Morey’s tweet, reducing its business with the league, which was growing rapidly in China.
Hawley, in the interview with Hewitt, called Silver’s summons from the Senate Judiciary Committee “a great idea.” He also said the NBA owes the government more clarity about the size of its business in China.
“This is great money for the NBA, and I think we deserve to know exactly what they are doing,” Hawley said. “And we deserve to be explained why they will not face this authoritarian regime.”
Wojnarowski has already apologized for the email he sent to Hawley, saying his actions were “unacceptable”. Players, including LeBron James, have called for their reinstatement by using the hashtag #FreeWoj on Twitter.
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