Los Angeles: LeBron James on Monday night sharply criticised Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, for his recent tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters.

The tweet set off a furore for the NBA last week while James and the Los Angeles Lakers were in China.

"I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke," James said, referring to Morey. "So many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually."

James was making his first public comments since the team's trip to China, where the Lakers played a pair of pre-season games against the Brooklyn Nets. But Morey's tweet — a picture with the slogan, "Fight for freedom, stand for Hong Kong," which he later deleted — shaped the backdrop for the entire trip.