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By offering only — and repeatedly — that Morey should have thought more about the consequences of his words, James staked out a position that is more pro-China than that of even the NBA

Instead, James criticized Morey for speaking his mind. At first, he insisted to the media in Los Angeles that he didn’t want to start a feud — always a sign that a feud is about to be started — but said that Morey must have been “misinformed” when he tweeted “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” When this soon blew up into many people wondering how Morey could possibly be misinformed about the benefits of, um, freedom and democracy, James sought to clarify, sort of: He posted on social media that “people” need to understand the impact of a tweet, and that “nobody” considered “what would happen.” This is a weird way to not start a feud with certain “people.” Then James went at it again, explaining that there had been no consideration of the ramifications of Morey’s tweet. “I’m not discussing the substance,” he posted. “Others can talk about that.”

Woof. As far as the narrow point he was making, James is correct. Morey evidently did not consider the impact his tweet would have, as was made clear when he deleted it and apologized, and the NBA issued a terse statement calling the offence caused “regrettable,” and Morey’s boss, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said his GM “does NOT speak for” the organization. He put it in all caps so you would know he was yelling.

Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images

But by offering only — and repeatedly — that Morey should have thought more about the consequences of his words, James staked out a position that is more pro-China than that of even the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver has insisted that his league values freedom of speech, even if it means dealing with the aftermath of those words. The league’s subsequent efforts to avoid uttering any more controversial words on the subject undermines the point somewhat, but at least Silver said Morey had the right to say what’s on his mind. James, quite clearly, has indicated that Morey should have kept his tweet fingers holstered.