The standoff between the NBA and China continues.

And just to show how sensitive this issue has become, at a press conference yesterday,

when rocket stars James Hardin and Russell Westbrook were asked about the situation by a CNN

reporter, a member of the rocket's media relations team jumped in and basically shut down

the question.

It's a legitimate question.

This is an event that's happened this week during the NBA.

This particular question has not been answered.

The whole situation has left NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a really tricky place.

He needs to placate the Chinese because billions of dollars are at stake for the NBA, but

he also needs to be aligned with American fans and American values, especially free speech.

I understand that there are consequences from that exercise of, in essence, his freedom

of speech.

You know, we will have to live with those consequences.

It's my hope that for our Chinese fans and our partners in China, they will see those

remarks in the context of now a three-decade, if not longer, relationship.

And in the middle of this whole situation is a really interesting guy.

The net's owner, Joe Sy, co-founder of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, and one of

the wealthiest people in the world.

And Sy released a statement on this issue earlier this week that more or less supported

Chinese government.

So Adam Silver is getting pushed back from all sides, Chinese government and Chinese businesses,

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