ESPN Tries to Draft NBA Players Into US Cold War With China

The Disney-owned ESPN corporation has joined rightwing Senators Joshua Hawley, Tom Cotton, and Marsha Blackburn in pressuring the National Basketball Association (NBA) to join the U.S.’ New Cold War against China. In an article of 3,000-plus words , ESPN summarized its “investigation” of the NBA’s relationship with China that began after Rocket’s General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support of the Hong Kong protests back in October 2019. While the reporters found it difficult to maintain focus on the subject, the conclusion is clear. According to ESPN, China is everything that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the rest of the Trump administration says it is: a country devoid of “human rights” and one that could not possibly tolerate the values of the U.S.’ “democratic” arrangement. However, ESPN’s coverage of China’s supposed wrongdoing relies upon anonymous and unverified sources and reads more like a speech from Mike Pompeo than credible journalism.