Gregg Popovich says he is thrilled with Adam Silver's comments regarding the rift between China and the NBA, citing the importance of freedom of speech in the U.S. (1:38)

President Donald Trump, in his first public comments about the NBA's relationship with China, criticized Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for their response to questions about the controversy.

Trump weighed in on the topic Wednesday afternoon, saying NBA officials have to "work out their own situation" with China, while he was critical of Kerr and Popovich, saying they were "pandering to China."

Kerr, who has been publicly critical of Trump and vocal on several social issues in the United States, said Monday that he had no comment when asked about the fallout from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's tweet last week that showed support for protesters in Hong Kong.

Trump focused on Kerr two days later, saying the three-time championship-winning coach "was like a little boy, he was so scared to be even answering the question."

"He couldn't answer the question -- he was shaking, 'Oh, oh, oh, I don't know. I don't know,'" Trump said. "He didn't know how to answer the question, and yet he'll talk about the United States very badly."

Popovich also avoided directly discussing the protests in Hong Kong, though he did praise NBA commissioner Adam Silver for his stance supporting free speech.

"I watched Popovich -- sort of the same thing, but he didn't look quite as scared actually," Trump said. "But they talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don't want to say anything bad. I thought it was pretty sad, actually. It'll be very interesting."

Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was made aware of Trump's comments about Kerr by team officials, including general manager Bob Myers, told reporters Wednesday that he got to "welcome Steve to the club."

Curry was singled out in tweets by Trump in 2017 after he had said he would vote no if the team were invited to the White House.

"We've obviously been really outspoken since I can remember, in terms of our organization and all that," Curry said. "But from the league and China and just our presence there and building a business, it's an interesting situation because there's so much history involved in it.

"I don't know that history well enough to kind of speak on it or to form an opinion yet, so that's kind of where I'm at with the situation. ... I'm staying tuned like everybody else."

Kerr had finished his post-practice news conference just a couple minutes before reporters saw Trump's comments. He is not expected to address the media again until before Thursday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, unless the Warriors make an exception.

NBA coaches have remained largely mum on the current situation with China. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni refused to answer questions on the topic after his team's game in Tokyo on Tuesday, while LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers didn't go too deeply into specifics when asked his opinion.

"I watch the way that Kerr and Popovich and some of the others were pandering to China, and yet to our own country, it's like they don't respect it," Trump said. "It's like they don't respect it. I said, 'What a difference -- isn't it sad?' It's very sad. To me, it's very sad."

Curry said he wasn't sure how this situation would affect his future plans, as he has traveled to China for the past six years. But he said his best advice for Kerr would be just to continue on.

"At this point, I don't know how Coach reacts -- or anybody else who gets called out like that -- so you just keep doing what you're doing for the most part," Curry said.

Silver, speaking in Japan on Tuesday, said he and the league are "apologetic" over the reaction that followed Morey's tweet but noted that "we are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."

An NBA Cares event in Shanghai involving the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled Wednesday, just hours before it was scheduled to begin.

The NBA would say only that calling off the event, which was supposed to benefit the Special Olympics, was not its decision.

Later Wednesday in Washington, a bipartisan group of lawmakers -- including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York -- sent a letter to Silver saying the NBA should show the "courage and integrity" to stand up to the Chinese government. They asked the NBA to, among other things, suspend activities in China until what they called the selective treatment against the Rockets ends.

"You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government's targets and should have the courage and integrity to use it," the lawmakers told Silver.

The NBA did not have any immediate comment on the letter, and it was unclear if Silver had seen the document.

The protests in Hong Kong were sparked by a proposed extradition law that would have allowed suspects to be sent to China to face trial. Activists saw that as a threat to the legal rights that Hong Kong residents have under the current "one country, two systems" framework.

ESPN's Nick Friedell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.