CASH RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME……
In the end, Morey was messing with LeBron’s money and he was not pleased about it.
ESPN has the inside scoop about what happened between Silver and Bron in China.
James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo — to name a few — had appearances canceled. One Lakers player, sources told ESPN, had agreed to a $1 million endorsement deal with a Chinese company prior to the trip. When he arrived — poof — it was gone. A seven-figure payday went out the window.
James, after taking 15 consecutive summer trips to China, skipped it this year to complete the filming of “Space Jam 2,” anticipating that the China Games would serve as a substitute. Some of his most important appearances of the year — including two with Nike and one with Beats by Dre — were canceled during this trip.
He expressed to the players that the best thing for the league would be for the Nets and Lakers to become ambassadors for the sport, to show a positive front and face the questions that would come from the throng of nearly 200 reporters set to descend upon the hotel in mere hours. One of the league’s core values is freedom of expression, Silver said. “It’s what you guys stand for.” And to not speak, he said, could lead to criticism for staying silent.
Silver opened the floor. James raised his hand.
His question was related to Morey — and the commissioner’s handling of the Rockets’ GM. James, to paraphrase, told Silver that he knew that if a player caused the same type of uproar with something he said or tweeted, the player wouldn’t be able to skate on it. There would be some type of repercussion. So, James wanted to know, what was Silver going to do about it in Morey’s case?
Silver pushed back, reminding the players that the league never doled out discipline when they publicly criticized President Donald Trump. Morey was exercising the same liberty when he challenged China. Regardless of the financial fallout of one versus the other, that’s not what should matter. Silver might have disliked the ramifications of Morey’s tweet, but he would defend the right to say it.
James told the room that it was too much for the players to take on in that moment — to explain a complicated issue with racial, socioeconomic and geopolitical layers while visitors in China. It was time to follow the league’s lead.
Flip the pages for LeBron speaking on the issue.