LeBron James Writes Piece In Chinese State-Run Newspaper In Obvious Sellout Move For NBA, Nike Shoe Sales
LeBron is the latest to try and get China fully back on board with the NBA.
LeBron James may be 40 years old and preparing to enter what will be his 23rd season in the NBA, but he's still willing to do whatever it takes to keep those who fill his pockets with cash as content as they can be.
The latest case in point is his recent byline in China's state-run People's Daily newspaper.
It is not common for China's communist party to allow foreign athletes to pen articles in the newspaper, but if one of the most famous people on the planet is willing to bend the knee in written form as James did, it makes exceptions.
James' story appeared on the sports page of the paper with the title ‘Basketball Is A Bridge Connecting Each Other' on Monday as he wraps up his ‘Forever King Tour’ with Nike. The title and the story itself are completely innocent in nature, as James writes about past personal experiences in the country and China's rich basketball culture, but context, surrounding circumstances, and blatant ignorance matter.
LeBron James attends an exchange activity during his 2025 China Tour in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by Zhang Lang/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
James' recent tour in China marks his 15th since first visiting the country in 2005. The mission, if you will, has always been the same, and that is to grow the game of basketball, promote the NBA, and of course, sell more signature shoes that have his name on them.
This year's tour is a bit different, as James' newest signature shoe will be released in China on September 25 and won't be available globally until October 3. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Chinese sportswear market is worth $60 billion annually, with footwear making up $33 billion of that.
Former NBA Player Slams LeBron For Taking Nike Money to Stay Silent on China
Nike sees dollar signs, and James, like plenty of other superstar athletes of the brand, took part in some good old-fashioned in-person marketing in hopes of selling more shoes.
While shoe sales present one asterisk on the situation and James' fluff piece in the state-run paper, there is a much larger one that can not be ignored, and has been present since 2019.
Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets at the time, shared a tweet ahead of the team's trip to Japan. It read "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong." The post was in support of the pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong who were fighting back against the Chinese government and an extradition bill.
The pro-democracy tweet from an NBA executive about a communist-run country did not sit well with Chinese leaders.
LeBron James attends a Nike event during his 2025 China Tour in Shanghai, China. (Photo by You Fang/VCG via Getty Images)
James reacted to Morey's tweet by not only declining to comment on China's politics or its government having been accused of committing genocide of Uyghurs, but claimed he "wasn't educated on the situation at hand."
He then made an absurd comment about freedom of speech.
"And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and say and we do, even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too," James said in response to Morey's tweet in 2019.
The NBA and the Rockets issued statements apologizing for one of its general managers publicly supporting democracy, which made no logical sense, but logic is cast aside in this situation, given that China literally shut off its ties to the league.
China's state broadcaster CCTV stopped showing NBA games for 28 months after Morey's post and NBA commissioner Adam Silver revealed in 2022 that the financial loss from China amounted to "hundreds of millions" of dollars.
It's been six years since Morey's tweet and CCTV has gradually started to return some NBA games to its broadcast, and now it seems an op-ed by LeBron James in a state-run newspaper could be what it takes to get things fully repaired between the league and its most important international market.
The NBA is set to return to China for two preseason games in Macau in what will be the first games held in the country since the 2019 firestorm.