DeSantis Fires Back After NBA Players Protest Donation: ‘Took a Break’ From ‘Bending the Knee to Communist China’

AP Photo/Andy Barron

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) fired back at the National Basketball Players Association after it issued a condemnatory statement about the Orlando Magic’s $50,000 donation to a political action committee supporting DeSantis’s presidential bid on Friday.

“A political contribution from the Orlando Magic is alarming given recent comments and policies of its beneficiary,” asserted the NBPA in its statement about the contribution on Thursday.

“NBA governors, players and personnel have the right to express their personal political views, including through donations and statements. However, if contributions are made on behalf of an entire team, using money earned through the labor of its employees, it is incumbent upon the team governors to consider the diverse values and perspectives of staff and players,” it continued. “The Magic’s donation does not represent player support for the recipient.”

DeSantis responded on Friday by attacking the NBA for its efforts to placate the genocidal Chinese regime, as well as for kneeling during performances of the national anthem.

“It appears the NBA took a break from protesting our anthem and bending the knee to Communist China to chirp about my policies,” commented DeSantis on Twitter.

The NBA has taken heat over its relationship with China ever since former Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted about his support for protesters in Hong Kong, who were being brutally repressed by the Chinese regime.

Responding to the ensuing backlash from Chinese entities, the NBA released a statement calling Morey’s comments regrettable and star LeBron James said that the executive “wasn’t educated on the situation at hand” and lamented that “so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

“Yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too,” offered James, who never clarified what Morey had gotten wrong.

The NBA has also been criticized for its operation of a basketball camp in Xinjiang — a Chinese province in which the country’s Uyghur Muslim minority is being herded into camps, experimented on, and sterilized — where coaches allegedly abused athletes.

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