I know this is behind a paywall... but here's a few snippets on how the public perceives things relative to insiders. In short, insiders are out-of-touch. Public: NBA bent the knee to China Insiders: Adam Silver called China’s bluff Within the league though, many saw something else. Specifically, they were struck by how bold Silver was in confronting the Chinese government Public: Daryl Morey was wronged Insiders: Daryl Morey is wrong Owners are especially frustrated with Morey for transgressing in such a way that hurt their pocketbooks, but that sentiment is widespread throughout the sport. Public: The Clippers and Lakers are co-favorites Insiders: The Clippers are way better than the Lakers 46 percent of GMs had the Clippers winning the title and only 11 percent had the Lakers winning it all. Though the betting markets have had the Clippers and Lakers at comparable title odds this preseason, the insider perception is of a distinct difference between the teams. https://theathletic.com/1317628/201...-plus-clippers-vs-lakers-for-title-favorites/
Translation = he's helping our pocketbooks. Translation = he's hurting our pocketbooks. This is apples and oranges to the other two. This is something that will bear out over the season and one group might be more right/wrong then the other. The first two are just pure opinion things. We shouldn't be shocked that those who stand to lose the most $$ have completely differing opinions than the public, where it isn't a money issue.
Insiders: Adam Silver called China’s bluff Correct. If the NBA bent the knee to China Morey wouldn’t be here. They tried to thread the needle like any smart person or business would. This was the grown up move. Public: Daryl Morey was wronged Correct. Anyone who lives in a free society knows this is right. Any object to this isn’t over principle but currency. As evidence that Kerr supported this cause. Morey just happen to be wrong person. Public: The Clippers and Lakers are co-favorites Insiders: The Clippers are way better than the Lakers Perfect example of teams still over valuing individual defenders and being results oriented instead of process oriented. Rockets are the best.
1) I never understood how people thought the NBA "bent the knee" to China. Bending the knee would mean firing Morey to me. 2) I'm not sure I agree with either. Morey had an opinion, he stated it, and paid the consequences. I don't know if he was "wronged" per se. I sure don't think he's wrong, either. 3) I can understand thinking the Clippers being favorites. I don't understand how the Lakers were favorites. In the Clippers, you're adding 2 MVP candidates to a team that almost won 50 games and made the Western conference playoffs. In the Lakers, you had a team that played fairly well with a healthy Lebron, but now you have an aging Lebron and gutted a lot of that team to acquire Anthony Davis who really hasn't proven to be the stud his stats make him out to be. If anything, the Lakers have always been a TBD to me. They may end up being great. The Clippers have always seemed like they should be considered in the thick of things as far as Western Conference champions.
I think Silver after the initial apology letter fiasco got pretty good reviews from the public. Especially his Times and TMZ interviews. Also every knows Morey screwed the owners and players. Its just that the public doesn't really care about millionaires and billionaires losing 10% of their earnings that still keep them as millionaires and billionaires.
The NBA didn't "bend a knee", Silver clearly stated that the NBA will not be in the business of controlling speech from league officials. Morey had every right to post what he did. But tbh, if he really wanted to take stand he shouldn't have pussied out and deleted the tweet or apologized for anything. Some of the people on this board making Morey out to be some kind of freedom fighter sound ridiculous. In the end, Morey tweeted something that he was not willing to stand behind, and everyone's finances were jeopardized. If you're gonna take a true stand and put it all on the line, then I would rather see you go full balls to the wall. Resign, be ostracized by the NBA, face any public backlash, but don't waiver on your values. Morey is the general manager of an entertainment sport franchise. Not a civil rights activist. For all his intelligence when it comes to data and analytics, he spoke without thinking and risked a lot of other people's money in the process.
Its amazing how short of attention span people have. It took a week of public outcry and backlash from politicians for Silver to find his spine and shove it back up his ass. Silver obviously waited to see where the chips landed before deciding what to say. If Silver had any conviction, he would have defended Morey from day 1.
