At a news conference last week, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver defended Morey’s right to publicize his views, saying, “We will protect our employees’ freedom of speech.” And while the league acknowledged the offense the tweet had caused, it stopped short of apologizing to the Chinese government.

On Monday, James waded back into the maelstrom by holding a seven-minute news conference before the Lakers played the Golden State Warriors in a preseason game at Staples Center. He said that Morey had caused a lot of problems for the players while they were in China — and went so far as to suggest that he could have endangered them.

“Yes, we do all have freedom of speech,” James said. “But at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re thinking about yourself.”

Asked why he felt Morey had been ill-informed on the subject, James said: “That’s just my belief. I don’t know. That’s my belief. That’s all I can say. I believe he was misinformed or not really educated on the situation. And if he was, then so be it.”