U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas and known Houston Rockets supporter, joined Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Julian Castro in showing support for GM Daryl Morey amid the wave of controversy involving the Rockets and China.

Morey and the NBA each issued new statements Sunday night clarifying their positions in an attempt to diffuse the situation moving forward.

In quoting the statement from the NBA league office, however, Cruz simultaneously showed support for Morey’s initial sentiment on Hong Kong — which sparked the controversy — and condemned the league’s official response as inadequate.

As a lifelong @HoustonRockets fan, I was proud to see @dmorey call out the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive treatment of protestors in Hong Kong. Now, in pursuit of big $$, the @nba is shamefully retreating. https://t.co/7waMde5KrM — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 7, 2019

The backlash from the highest levels of U.S. politics against China’s response began Sunday morning with a statement condemning Chinese actions by Andrew Yang, a Democratic candidate for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

“The Chinese government banning the Rockets is a terrible move,” Yang wrote on Twitter.

Fellow Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro, who formerly served as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and as the mayor of his native San Antonio, Texas, echoed that sentiment later in the day.

China is using its economic power to silence critics—even those in the U.S. The United States must lead with our values and speak out for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, and not allow American citizens to be bullied by an authoritarian government. https://t.co/87U4jgsAAp — Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) October 7, 2019

Less than an hour later, Cruz jumped into the fray.

The international controversy started early Saturday in Japan, when Morey tweeted an image that read, “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” Morey is currently in Japan with other Rockets players, coaches and executives as they prepare for a pair of preseason games this week versus the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors.

Morey later deleted that tweet, but not before Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta saw it on Twitter and quoted it with a response clarifying that it was not the franchise’s official position. However, shortly after the timing of the original tweet and response, Fertitta stood by Morey in comments made to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“I have the best general manager in the league,” Fertitta told MacMahon. “Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the team] has no [political] position. We’re here to play basketball and not to offend anybody.”

Tilman Fertitta to ESPN: “I have the best general manager in the league. Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the organization] has no [political] position. We’re here to play basketball and not to offend anybody.” https://t.co/tS15GIOpMh — Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 5, 2019

Located on China’s Southeast coast, Hong Kong is now officially a Special Administrative Region of China. But the territory was under British rule as a colony for a very extended period before being transferred to China in 1997.

Pro-democracy residents of Hong Kong have long accused China of slowly encroaching on their rights, and a government proposal earlier this year to change extradition laws to allow suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China to face trial ignited numerous protests.

The extradition bill was recently withdrawn, but the youth-led protests have now morphed into a wider anti-government movement. They’ve also become larger and more violent in recent weeks. (Read more about the dispute’s background at USA Today.) According to The Ringer report, Morey has friends in Hong Kong and was concerned for their safety.

Since the timing of the original tweet, though, a wide range of Chinese sponsors, organizations, and even the Chinese Basketball Association — with former Rockets franchise icon Yao Ming as its president — have suspended their ties with the Rockets. It is not known if any of these moves are permanent.

In addition, Tencent Sports announced Sunday that all live streaming and news reporting of the Rockets would be suspended. The company gave customers who bought a subscription to watch Houston’s games online the opportunity to pick another team.

In July, the NBA and Tencent jointly announced “a five-year expansion of their existing partnership” that runs through the 2024-25 NBA season. According to the release, 490 million Chinese fans watched NBA games on Tencent platforms

Back in Houston, the Chinese Consulate General issued a statement to express its “strong dissatisfaction” with the Rockets:

We are deeply shocked by the erroneous comments on Hong Kong made by Mr. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets. We have lodged representations and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Houston Rockets, and urged the latter to correct the error and take immediate concrete measures to eliminate the adverse impact.

There was talk earlier Sunday that Morey’s job with the Rockets could be in jeopardy over the fallout from China, but that has since been refuted by several veteran NBA reporters.

Likewise, I have been repeatedly told tonight there was discussion about dismissing Daryl Morey and it is not under consideration. https://t.co/XgmkOpOrpS — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 7, 2019

However, the issue remains a very sensitive one for the team moving forward. The Rockets have had a significant number of Chinese fans and revenues since 2002, when Houston drafted Yao No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft. The 7-foot-6 center averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per game across eight seasons in Houston.

Though his career was cut short by injuries, forcing his retirement in 2011, Yao’s brief tenure was impactful enough that he is already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Just last week, the Shanghai Sharks — once owned by Yao — visited Houston to play the Rockets in a preseason game. And as recently as last season, the Rockets even had alternate “City” uniforms with Chinese lettering to acknowledge fans in China.

The Rockets’ version of the City jerseys for the upcoming 2019-20 season, to be released in November, will change from the Chinese model to a more Houston-centric edition. However, that decision was made months ago and has nothing to do with the current situation.

Dating back to Morey’s first full season with the team in 2006-07, during which Yao was in the prime of his career, Houston has the second-most wins of any NBA team.

More recently, under Morey’s leadership, the Rockets have won at least 53 games in five of the past six seasons. That includes a franchise-best 65-17 mark during the 2017-18 campaign, when Morey was named by his peers as NBA Executive of the Year.