It has been an absolutely turbulent year for the NBA, with the latest challenge now in navigating a return after the 2019-20 regular season was shut down in March due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Furthermore, the league additionally has had to endure two prominent deaths in former NBA commissioner David Stern and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. All of that makes it easy to forget the season got off on the wrong foot when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey caused an international scene after he publicly supported anti-government protesters in Hong Kong via Twitter.
Although Morey quickly deleted his tweets, the damage was done as China decided to stop airing NBA games causing a major stir for commissioner Adam Silver, the rest of the league office, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.