Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James criticized Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey for the tweet that set off a crisis between the NBA and China, saying that Morey’s support for antigovernment protesters in Hong Kong was “misinformed or not really educated on the situation.”

The comments are the first from James since Morey’s since-deleted tweet touched off the controversy, which intensified as the Lakers landed in China for two exhibition games last week. After the crisis erupted and developed into an international...