not about trying to stifle anyone s right to free speech. china is hitting back and commissioner silver says the league just going to have to live with the consequences. reporter: the normally savvy and socially conscious nba knew it had a pr nightmare on its hands because hours after the league appeared to side with china saying a tweet from houston rockets general manager supporting hong kong protesters was regrettable, the nba commissioner came before cameras in japan to do an about face. we are not apologizing for daryl exercising his freedom of expression. reporter: silver issued a lengthy statement saying the nba will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues. the nba pr machine went into overtime after a full court press from angry members of congress on both sides of the aisle as well as from
manager supporting hong kong protesters. cnn s david culver is live in beijing with all of the breaking details. david. reporter: alisyn, major breaking details. these developments just coming out from tokyo in the past few minutes. we ve been monitoring a press conference involving nba commissioner adam silver. he is addressing what really is beyond economics, i donbeyond s, that is freedom of speech versus profit. adam silver said he wanted to clarify some misunderstandings and some misinterpretations in his words that he thinks are going on between the nba, and china. take a listen to what he had to say. long-held values of the nba are to support freedom of expression and certainly freedom of expression by members of the nba community. i don t think it s inconsistent on one hand to be sympathetic to them and at the same time stand
may be some sort of mental decline. see, i m not a doctor so i can t sfeek that, but i just see a forocity in him that i didn t see 25 years ago. and i think it s his zealous need to remain relevant and to make a living, frankly. he has one client and there s only one president of the united states, right? you make a good point. ken frydman, everybody should read your op-ed to see what has changed from the man that you knew. thanks for sharing with us. thanks for having me. the nba caught in the middle of this political crisis. dealing with china and hong kong. the new response for the nba commissioner. where does he come down on free speech versus big money. that s next. i m bad.
supporting hong kong s protests escalates. cnn s david culver is live in beijing with all the breaking details. tell us what s going on here. all right, john. this is a mess that s getting worse with each passing moment. what we ve heard in the past few hours from adam silver is an effort to try to clean up any misunderstanding as he put it. some mistranslations, misinterpretations. this goes beyond the economics, the sports. this is hitting at the core of a geopolitical issue. one pitting freedom of speech right up against profit. i want you to listen now how adam silver, the nba commissioner, is addressing this growing issue. we are not apologizing for daryl exercising his freedom of expression. reporter: the nba commissioner standing behind the houston rockets general manager after growing backlack over the league s hand ling of a tweet
extracurricular activity. dropping 10s of thousands of dollars at strip clubs. now the school is picking up the tab for that and off the court drama heing up between nba and china broadcasters refusing to air games fans refusing to attend what the nba commissioner is saying now about the spat next. with no income verification, ya no appraisal, and no points and save over 1,000 dollars a year. lower rates means lower payments. get the most of your va mortgage benefits. .