China TV has no plans to air NBA games

China CCTV has stated that it has no intent to air NBA games due to the strained relationship caused by Daryl Morey's controversial tweet about Hong Kong last fall.

On Monday, Michael Ma was named as the new CEO of NBA China, which caused many to speculate if China might be open to repairing its relationship with the NBA. However, that does not appear to be the case, with China CCTV releasing a statement through the Globe Times, a state-backed English language newspaper based in Beijing, "reiterating its consistent stance on national sovereignty."

On Oct. 4 of last year, Morey ignited a global sports conflict when he tweeted "Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong." The Houston Rockets general manager quickly deleted the tweet and later issued a statement saying that he did not mean to offend anyone. Many in the U.S., including NBA commissioner Adam Silver, defended Morey's freedom of speech while also attempting to maintain the relationship between the league and China. However, CCTV has kept NBA games off its broadcast in response to the tweet.

Silver said in February that the NBA had already lost $300 million as a direct result of the backlash to the tweet. and while he was hopeful that the league would be able to reconcile with China CCTV, he offered no clear timeline. The NBA was already planning to revise its salary cap as a result and with the league being shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some have estimated a significant drop in the salary cap.

The NBA has been trying to figure out a way to resume playing in the midst of the pandemic, potentially playing games in Orlando without fans. However, with this report, it seems that even if the NBA season isn't canceled, that games will not be aired in China, meaning that the league will continue to lose out on millions of dollars in revenue.