A Houston Rockets public relations staffer promptly shut down a CNN reporter's attempt to ask NBA All-Stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook about social activism amid ongoing friction between the league and China over team general manager Daryl Morey's support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

'The NBA has always been a league that prides itself on its players and its coaches being able to speak out openly about political and societal affairs,' CNN's Christina Macfarlane said at Thursday's press conference following a Rockets exhibition in Japan. 'I just wonder after the events of this week, and the fallout we've seen, whether you both feel differently about speaking out in that way in the future?'

'Excuse me, we are taking basketball questions only,' a voice can be heard telling Macfarlane.

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CNN's Christina Macfarlane was not allowed to ask James Harden or Russell Westbrook about China and its relationship with the NBA

CNN journalist gets shut down by an NBA rep for asking Harden and Westbrook a political question pic.twitter.com/UbSN78Xg2m — Sideline Sources (@sidelinesources) October 10, 2019

Both James Harden (left) and Russell Westbrook (right) have business interests in China

Macfarlane quickly responded: 'It's a legitimate question.'

'It's not,' the PR staffer said.

Undeterred, Macfarlane continued to press.

'This is an event that's happened this week during the NBA,' she said.

'It's already been answered,' the PR staffer replied.

Macfarlane made one last attempt to direct the question to Harden, who remained silent.

'This is a question that's not been answered,' Macfarlane said. 'James?'

Neither player responded to Macfarlane's question and she ultimately surrendered the microphone.

The NBA released a statement Thursday afternoon condemning the actions of the Rockets PR staffer.

'During today's Houston Rockets media availability, a team representative inappropriately interjected to prevent CNN's Christina Macfarlane from receiving an answer to her question,' read the statement. 'We've apologized to Ms. Macfarlane as this was inconsistent with how the NBA conducts media events.'

Morey's since-deleted tweet ignited tensions between the NBA and China, which remains at odds with activists in Hong Kong over the implementation of extradition laws in the former British territory.

The NBA has not apologized for Morey's social media post, but the league has taken criticism for its perceived kowtowing to China.

Morey was not in attendance on Thursday in Shanghai, but he was a target for Chinese basketball fans during the Lakers-Nets game

The tense moment came after NBA commissioner Adam Silver's statement earlier this week in which he specifically said the league would not censor its players.

Harden and Westbrook both made public apologies to Chinese fans following Morey's tweet. Both players have business interests in China, where basketball has flourished in popularity.

Speaking at a press conference in Japan on Tuesday, Westbrook went a step further by donning traditional burgundy tunic jacket while making his apology to Chinese fans.

NBA China, the league's operation in the country, is valued at about $4 billion, according to Forbes.

The Houston Chronicle estimated that the Rockets could lose between $10 million and $25 million in Chinese business as a result of the tweet.

Morey's tweet expressed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, and sparked fallout that has completely overshadowed the NBA's annual trip to China — which typically takes on a celebratory tone.

Not this year. Most events in advance of the game, such as NBA Cares events to benefit educational causes and the Special Olympics, were called off, as was a 'fan night' where Lakers and Nets players were to interact directly with some Chinese ticketholders. Signage in Shanghai to promote the game — huge photos of James, Anthony Davis, Irving and other players — was ripped down, and mentions of the game were scrubbed from the arena website.

Although Morey has since deleted it, the tweet caused the NBA a torrent of negative within the prized Chinese market, which is reportedly worth over $4 billion to the league

All that comes as many Chinese corporations suspended their business ties to the NBA. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said it was not going to show the Lakers-Nets games on Thursday or in Shenzhen on Saturday, and NBA broadcast partner Tencent also said it was changing its coverage plans for the league.

Silver said earlier this week that Rockets great Yao Ming, a Basketball Hall of Famer and now the president of the Chinese Basketball Association — which has also suspended its ties with Houston as part of the Morey tweet fallout — is angry as well.

'I'm not sure he quite accepts sort of how we are operating our business right now, and again, I accept that we have a difference of opinion,' Silver said. 'I also think that as part of our core values, tolerance is one of those as well.'

The Rockets were extremely popular in China, largely because of Yao. But the team's merchandise has been taken off e-commerce sites and out of stores selling NBA apparel in the country, murals featuring the team's stars and logo were painted over and even the Chinese consulate office in Houston expressed major displeasure with Morey and the Rockets.

A man hands out national flags to others arriving for the NBA preseason game to be held at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. All media events such as news conferences have been canceled inside the arena hosting Thursday's NBA preseason game in China between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, though the matchup itself was still played

Morey has been silent on the matter since a tweet Sunday where he attempted to make some sort of amends.

Saturday's game between the Lakers and Nets in Shenzhen also remains on as scheduled.

Hong Kong has endured nearly four months of protests ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions of criminal suspects to be tried in China's opaque courts.

They snowballed into a movement calling for more democratic freedoms, the biggest challenge to China's rule of Hong Kong since its handover from the British in 1997.

China reacts fiercely to any questioning of its sovereignty over semi-autonomous Hong Kong, and state media has repeatedly warned foreign firms that voicing support for protesters could cost them access to China's market of 1.4 billion people.