Steve Kerr tight-lipped on China amid growing political battle with NBA

Coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors stands on the side of the court during their game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center on October 5, 2019 in San Francisco. Coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors stands on the side of the court during their game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center on October 5, 2019 in San Francisco. Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Steve Kerr tight-lipped on China amid growing political battle with NBA 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

As the battle between the NBA and the Chinese government heats up, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr is trying to stay out of the fray.

The geopolitical drama began on Friday when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted (and then deleted), "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong." The tweet referred to protestors in Hong Kong who took to the streets in June to voice opposition to a bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China. Although that bill has since been withdrawn, protests have continued, demanding an investigation into police brutality that allegedly occurred during previous demonstrations.

For its part, China has called the protests "behavior that is close to terrorism."

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Morey's tweet was not well-received by the Chinese government. On Tuesday, China's state television network CCTV announced it was no longer broadcasting NBA preseason games, including two exhibition games between the Nets and Lakers that will be played in China.

When Kerr was asked after Monday's practice if he had any thoughts on the matter, he responded, "I don't."

"It's a really bizarre international story, and a lot of us don't know what to make of it. So it's something I'm reading about just like everybody is, but I'm not going to comment further than that," he said.

"What I've found is that it's easy to speak on issues that I'm passionate about and that I feel like I'm well-versed on, and I've found that it makes the most sense to stick to topics that fall in that category," he continued. "So I try to keep my comments to those things, and so it's not difficult. It's more I'm just trying to learn."

OPINION: The NBA doesn't care about China. Or being 'woke.' It only cares about money.

The tweet has sent shockwaves through China, a massive market for the league. According to Bloomberg, 800 million people in the country watch the NBA every year, and some stars, like the Warriors' Klay Thompson, have sneaker deals with the Chinese company Anta.

CCTV and its online broadcast partner Tencent have said they are evaluating if they will broadcast regular season NBA games.

NBA spokesperson Mike Bass wrote in a press release: "We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable."

"We apologize. You know, we love China. We love playing there," Rockets star James Harden said Monday. "... We appreciate them as a fan base. We love everything there about them, and we appreciate the support that they give us individually and as [an] organization. We love you."

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Manager. Email: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd