That garnered the league criticism in the United States from those who saw it as overly solicitous toward a repressive foreign regime,particularly given the league's culture of outspoken commentary by players and coaches on political and social issues.
Silver said Thursday that the word"regrettable"was"modifying the fact that we'd upset our Chinese fans". He added that"there was no regret directed to the[Chinese] government".
Demonstrators hold up photos of LeBron James grimacing during a rally in Hong Kong.Credit:AP
That initial statement was followed by another one in which Silver said his league"will not put itself in a position of regulating what players,employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues."
At a news conference last week in Tokyo,a day before he joined the Lakers and Nets in Shanghai,Silver said,"I want this to be clear,and I think there's been some confusion around this:We are not apologising for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."
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The commissioner said Thursday that when he and his staff saw the use of"regrettable"being"misinterpreted,"they"wanted to make an absolute clear statement,that the values of the NBA,these American values - we are an American business - travel with us wherever we go,and one of those values is free expression."
"We wanted to make sure that everyone understood we were supporting free expression."
Upon his return to the United States,Silver found it"confusing"that the NBA was still being excoriated for its reaction to Morey's tweet.
"I had thought we'd taken a principled position. I thought we hadn't so-called'acquiesced'to the Chinese,"he said.
An ESPN report Tuesday indicated that Lakers star LeBron James advocated for Morey to receive some sort of punishment. At a meeting in Shanghai between Silver and the two NBA teams,James was said to have argued that if a player caused as huge a problem for the league with a tweet or comment,that player would face repercussions.
Silver reportedly pushed back by noting that the NBA has done nothing to muzzle players who have spoken out sharply against President Donald Trump,a group that includes James himself.
The four-time NBA MVP also insisted,according to ESPN,that he and the other players on the China trip shouldn't have to answer questions in China about Morey's tweet,and Silver agreed to scrap all the news conferences planned around the two games they were set to play.
Upon his return to Los Angeles,James made it clear that he was still upset at Morey,telling reporters Monday that the general manager was"misinformed or not really educated"when he sent his tweet.
"So many people could have been harmed,not only financially but physically,emotionally,spiritually,"James said."Just be careful what we tweet,what we say and what we do."
"The losses have already been substantial,"the commissioner said."Our games are not back on the air in China,as we speak,and we'll see what happens next."
Noting that he has been visiting China for 15 years,as the NBA has been staging games there,Silver said,"I felt we had made enormous progress in terms of building cultural exchanges with the Chinese people,and,again,I have regret that much of that was lost."
"The financial consequences,"he added,"have been and may continue to be fairly dramatic."
Washington Post