Chinese State TV Keeps NBA Opener Off The Air Amid Row

(Yahoo! News) October 23 2019 Chinas state television kept the NBAs season-opening games off the air on Wednesday in the latest fallout from a row over a team executives support for pro-democracy protests Hong Kong. The blackout added to an unusual start to the NBA season as activists distributed t-shirts in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters outside the arenas in Los Angeles and Toronto. The NBA has a massive fan base in China and CCTV has traditionally shown the season openers. But the games featuring the Toronto Raptors against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Clippers against city rivals the Lakers were not shown on the Chinese network on Wednesday morning (Tuesday night in North America). Chinese internet giant Tencent however showed the two games on its streaming service. CCTV and Tencent had cancelled their broadcasts of two NBA pre-season games held in China earlier this month after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted Fight for freedom stand with Hong Kong. CCTV had also warned that it would investigate its cooperation with the NBA.