Terry Stotts Comments on NBA-China Situation

The NBA has been embroiled in international controversy for the last week ever since Houston Rockets GM Daryl tweeted “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong”, provoking serious backlash from the Chinese government. Tension rose over the weekend when Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James was quoted saying Morey “wasn’t educated” on the situation and put people’s livelihoods at risk with the tweet.

Today Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts was asked to comment on the ongoing controversy following a team practice. Portland’s KGW News posted the video.

Stotts’ response to the controversy:

I do think that [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver had a tightrope to walk and I thought he did an excellent job in managing the situation. Other than that, as an American, I believe in free speech and democracy. It’s kind of what we stand for.

Stotts on the right of NBA players to speak:

I think players, every American has the right to free speech. Whether it continues on different topics...you know there are a lot of difficult topics in the world. Syria is a difficult topic. Ukraine is a difficult topic. There are a lot of world issues that maybe a lot of people aren’t well-enough versed to comment on.