Only 22 days after becoming the owner of the Nets team, Cai Chongxin found himself caught in a dilemma that he might never have experienced.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Sleeping Bear Sports” (ID :lanxiongsports), author Wan Yuxin.
Beijing time on October 9th at 10 o’clock, 2019 NBA China is still “life and death.”
According to Rilakkuma Sports, Nets team boss Cai Chongxin has taken most of the venue tickets to the league in advance of this year’s NBA China tournament, because he is the executive vice chairman of the Alibaba Group’s board of directors. Ali’s corporate relationship needs to be maintained. In this China game, the Nets also arrived in Shanghai one day earlier than the Lakers. Originally arranged for a lot of activities, Cai Chongxin himself organized a number of private parties, ready to take advantage of the popularity and platform of the NBA China Tournament.
But all the arrangements were aborted due to a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Morey.
A Morey’s tweet triggers numerous subsequent chain reactions.
On October 5th, Morey, who was participating in the NBA Japan Tournament with the Rockets, posted a tweet on personal social media. There is no essay, only a picture, and its meaning is self-evident.
Although Morey quickly removed the tweet, the Rockets boss quickly cut the Rockets and Morey through ESPN, claiming that Morey’s remarks did not represent the Rockets. But since then CCTV, Tencent and other broadcast and media platforms and sponsors who have cooperated with the Rockets have announced the suspension of cooperation with the Rockets.
After Morey’s second clarification and NBA’s President Xiao Hua’s two statements on “Supporting Morey’s Freedom of Expression”, the tension was escalated again.
The copyright parties such as CCTV and Tencent announced that they would stop broadcasting the NBA China Tournament. Almost all Chinese sponsors of this China Games announced that they would suspend cooperation with the NBA within half a day. The celebrity artists who participated in the event were also rejected. At the meeting, even the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that “the exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese side, but do not understand the Chinese public opinion, this will not work.” (Extended reading: Morey who has missed three opportunities to apologize | Bear-visual )
Although Cai Chongxin is a Canadian Chinese born in Taiwan, he is one of the founders of Alibaba’s business empire. He has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for nearly 20 years. Cai Chongxin knows better than anyone else how to do business in China. This is also why, Cai Chongxin immediately released the “Open Letter to All NBA Fans” on Facebook after 3 hours of the second clarification of Morey.
He knows more than all Americans that Morena’s two seemingly “finding” statements will not satisfy China’s, and will only touch the Chinese’s bottom line once again, causing even greater losses.
▲Cai Chongxin’s open letter to NBA fans.
“When I just bought this Nets team in September, I didn’t expect the first public communication with the fans would be about talking about such a politically related and seriously misunderstood incident.” Cai Chongxin wrote at the beginning of the open letter.
He refined and refined the modern history of humiliation that has been humiliated since the Opium War in just a few hundred words, telling everyone that “when any separatism emerges, the Chinese people will feel a strong humiliation and anger. Because of this humiliating history of bullying.” Cai Chongxin spent his college career at Yale, where he holds a double bachelor’s degree in economics and East Asian studies at Yale University, and a doctorate in law.
The text he wrote was applauded by all Chinese fans, but he also had to face American fans with completely different ideologies.
As a new player in the professional sports field in the United States, Cai Chongxin has bought the Brooklyn Nets and its home game Barclays Center for $3.38 billion. The Nets also ushered in two superstars, Durant and Owen. Joined, but at this point in time, he has not built a sense of trust in the American fans.
Most American fans will only understand Cai Chongxin’s open letter as the choice of freedom of speech.