How a Quickly-Deleted Tweet About China Got Pretty Much Everyone Mad at the NBA

The NBA finds itself caught between two cultures after a tweet about Hong Kong protests sparked criticism from China that threatens the U.S. basketball league’s expansion efforts in its most important international market.

The controversy erupted after Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, one of the most popular U.S. basketball teams in China, appeared to support Hong Kong demonstrators in a tweet late Friday. While the message was deleted and both Morey and the National Basketball Association tried to distance themselves from it, the damage reverberated across both...