National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver said he wants his organization to have a close relationship with China because it needs “to build relationships” in order to “bring about realistic change.”

“The political science major in me believes that engagement is better than isolation,” Silver said in an interview with Time Magazine. “That a so-called boycott of China, taking into account legitimate criticisms of the Chinese system, won’t further the agenda of those who seek to bring about global change. Working with Chinese solely on NBA basketball has been a net plus for building relationships between two superpowers.”

Critics have mostly disagreed with Silver’s assessment. The issue has been a source of contention since 2019, when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey wrote a message on Twitter supporting protesters in Hong Kong. The Chinese consulate condemned Morey’s statement,  while Chinese broadcaster Tencent stopped airing NBA games in a move that cost the organization an estimated $200 million, eventually leading the NBA to call his comments “regrettable” and to say they did not “represent” the organization.

Morey stepped down a year later, but only after the incident provoked widespread backlash against the NBA, including from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who memorably told viewers, “Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts.”

‘Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts,’ mocked ‘South Park’ creators in a tweet entitled ‘official apology to China’ https://t.co/M9FjsV57C8 pic.twitter.com/XlKIowNJaM

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 9, 2019

Silver said in his latest interview that he thought his group’s ties to China could bring about “realistic change” related to human rights.

“While I’m a believer in soft power, I’m certainly not sitting here claiming that by virtue of televising NBA games in China lo and behold, there’ll be a reckoning in China to adopt a Western point of view about human rights,” Silver said. “I do think that in order to bring about realistic change, we have to build relationships. … And basketball happens to be the most popular team sport in China right now. We think that through that common love and appreciation of the game of basketball, that that’s a way to bring people together. It’s as simple as that.”

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