American basketball’s tricky relations with China

ENES KANTER’SNBANBANBA campaign against China’s Communist Party has been unrelenting. The basketball star has recently walked into professional games sporting custom shoes that read “Free Tibet”, a slogan that has long raised hackles in Beijing. He has invited the co-founder of Nike, a sportswear firm, to visit “slave labour camps” in China’s north-west (Nike says it does not source products from the region). On November 2nd Mr Kanter, who plays for the Boston Celtics, posted a message for China’s president on Twitter: “Ruthless Dictator XI JINPING...hear me loud and clear: Hong Kong will be FREE!”.The slam-dunk on China, America’s National Basketball Association () and clothing brands such as Nike has the potential to do extraordinary damage. Tencent, the Chinese internet giant contracted to stream games, has already blocked the Celtics. The league relies heavily on Chinese sponsors and has already had a taste of what cancellation means. The airing of games was halted for more than a year in China starting in October 2019 after the general manager of the Houston Rockets voiced support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The embargo was painful. Nearly all Chinese corporate partners cancelled or suspended their arrangements at the time. The league’s commissioner estimated as much as $400m in lost revenue. It has projected income of $10bn for the current season.