See it and Sell it First at ASI Show Orlando – January 4-6, 2025.   Register Now.

Strategy October 21, 2019

Moment Merch Takes Center Court in NBA, China/Hong Kong Controversy

By  Christopher Ruvo

When it comes to hot button political and social issues, everyone from presidential candidates to people on the street are increasingly expressing their opinions with message T-shirts.

One of the latest high-profile examples of custom-imprinted tees being used to voice a position on a high-profile political topic comes from National Basketball Association fans. In separate initiatives, supporters of both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors have thrown support behind crowdsourcing fundraisers aimed at paying for screen-printed T-shirts that display messages in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Media reports indicate that the supporters of the Lakers and Raptors T-shirt initiatives plan to give the message merch out for free to fans at the teams’ season openers, which are both scheduled for Oct. 22. Neither team is involved with the planned giveaways.

The protest tees are an outgrowth of the controversy involving the NBA and the China/Hong Kong conflict, which centers on Hong Kong demanding that Beijing acknowledge its status as a special administrative region and respect the city’s democratic rule of law. Chinese authorities have portrayed the protests as stemming from a counterrevolutionary separatist movement fueled, in part, by foreign meddlers, including the U.S.

The NBA-specific maelstrom began swirling recently after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted (since deleted): “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Those seven words set off a firestorm for the NBA, with Beijing reportedly demanding that Morey be fired and Chinese advertisers fleeing the NBA in droves. Mindful of its vast audience in China, the NBA responded by disavowing Morey’s comments, describing the tweet as “regrettable.” That reaction prompted robust backlash from people who support Hong Kong in its pro-democracy protests against what they perceive as Chinese aggression and oppression.

Protesters take to the streets in Hong Kong in June 2019.

From that backlash, the pro-Hong Kong NBA fan T-shirts were born. In a twist, the Lakers campaign was started by a fan of the Golden State Warriors. Operating under what’s reportedly a pseudonym, Sun Lared launched a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $20,000 to pay for printed T-shirts that would bear the text of Morey’s tweet. Lared raised about $43,000, and was, of late, looking for help distributing the tees on Oct. 22.

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if on opening night in Staples Center the NBA fanbase made a collective demonstration against censorship by wearing ‘STAND WITH Hong Kong’ T-Shirts?’” Lared wrote on his GoFundMe page.

Similarly, supporters of Hong Kong in Canada started a GoFundMe page that raised more than $34,000 to print up what they said will be 7,000 T-shirts to distribute at the Raptors Oct. 22 opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. The T-shirt haul is enough to cover a third of the Raptors arena, organizer Mimi Lee said. As seen above, the shirts read “The North Stand With Hong Kong.” The phrase “The North” is a reference to the Raptors and their collective fans.

Experts say China’s recent run-ins with the NBA and others like Google, Activision Blizzard and Nike have shown that the country is taking a more aggressive stance in trying to control the messages western brands put out about the country.”