A banner promoting the Lakers-Nets preseason game in China — featuring LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis — was torn down Wednesday … in the wake of the international crap storm sparked by the Rockets GM’s support of protesters in Hong Kong.
The teams were scheduled to play a preseason game Thursday in Shanghai … but that was before general manager Daryl Morey tweeted, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” … igniting an international incident that led to China basically cutting ties with the Rockets and the NBA.
The Lakers-Nets game hasn’t officially been canned … but for those Chinese fans hoping to peep Bron, AD and Kyrie on the court … the gigantic banner being ripped down ain’t a good sign.
China already canceled multiple NBA functions that were supposed to go down in Shanghai … including 2 NBA Cares events, and a game between 2 G-League squads.
The NBA clearly wants the game to be played. They’ve been trying to smooth things over since Morey fired off the Tweet … with everyone from James Harden to league execs apologizing for the message.
NBA commish Adam Silver flew to China on Tuesday in an effort to smooth over the international incident.
Can Silver save the Lakers-Nets basketball game … stay tuned.