A tweet by the general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team supporting the Hong Kong protests has sparked outrage in China, leaving the team and the NBA scrambling to limit the damage in the league’s fastest-growing market.
Daryl Morey posted an image on Twitter — which is blocked in China — with the words “fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” on Friday evening, echoing a common refrain of the demonstrators whose four-month stand-off with authorities has plunged the city into political crisis.
Mr Morey quickly deleted the tweet and wrote he did not intend “to cause any offence” but that has not stopped the outpouring of anger in the country, with commercial partners quickly cutting their ties with the team.