Kyrie Irving 'understands' Hong Kong protests at Brooklyn Nets game amid NBA-China tensions
Saturday 19 October 2019 08:52, UK
All-Star guard Kyrie Irving has said he understands why fans protested in support of Hong Kong at the Brooklyn Nets preseason game on Friday night as tensions between the NBA and China continued to escalate.
Earlier on Friday China denied NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's claims that the country asked him to fire Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey over a tweet in support of protests in Hong Kong
At the time of Morey's tweet, Irving's Nets were in China to play two pre-season fixtures against the Los Angeles Lakers, which were not televised by the host nation as part of a robust response to the social media post.
In the Nets' first game since returning from China, against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night at the Barclays Center, a group of fans held signs, wore shirts and chanted support for Hong Kong and Tibet.
"I stand for four things, man. Inner peace, freedom, equality and world peace. So, if that is being conflicted inside of me, I am definitely going to have something to say, and I left it in that room," Irving said of a meeting between NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the Nets and Lakers that took place in China.
"For me as an individual I stand up for those four pillars and when they're being conflicted I can understand why protesters come to the game."
"Government gets involved and impacts different communities in different ways. The reality is that as individuals it's our job to stand up for what we believe in.
"I understand Hong Kong and China is dealing with their issues respectively, but there's enough oppression and stuff going on in America for me not to be involved in the community issues here as well."
One sign was aimed at Lakers star LeBron James and Nets owner Joe Tsai, the co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who were critical of Morey's tweet. Tsai wrote a Facebook post explaining why the since-deleted tweet was upsetting to the Chinese.
