An N.B.A. firestorm in China

First, a Houston Rockets official tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, inflaming officials and basketball fans in China. Then the N.B.A.’s apology enraged American fans.

The fracas spotlights the difficulties many businesses in China face. In this case, basketball has long been China’s most popular sport, with a huge base of fans and lucrative corporate deals that are growing each year.

American fans accused the league of hypocrisy for encouraging free speech on political matters in the U.S. but stifling it when its business interests were at stake. Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a co-founder of Alibaba, wrote on Facebook that Hong Kong protests were a “third-rail” issue for the people of China, adding, “the hurt that this incident has caused will take a long time to repair.”

Immediate impact: Yao Ming, China’s biggest basketball star, played on the Rockets for years, boosting its status for the Chinese. He is now the president of the Chinese Basketball Association, which announced after the tweet that it was cutting ties with the Rockets.