Gillespie on the NBA: Sports Has Always Been the ‘Great Uniter,’ Politics the ‘Great Divider’; Two Shouldn’t ‘Intersect’

EXCERPT:

GILLESPIE: "Well, Darryl Morey represents the Houston Rockets. They're the darling team of China because that was the team Yao Ming starred for. But more over that, I think the bigger issue here is that sports has always been the great uniter and politics has always been a great divider. I don't think the two should intersect the way that they have. Having said that, you know, the NBA is a global brand and it's not their job to be playing geopolitical police chief on the global stage. It's a business. But also, more than that, they provide entertainment and inspiration for 500 million youth in China so it's not just a political issue."