An ESPN investigation has rocked the NBA after it found employees complained about human rights concerns inside an affiliate youth development academy in China. The investigation by ESPN began after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for Hong Kong protestors.
American coaches at three NBA training academies in China told league officials their Chinese partners were “physically abusing young players and failing to provide schooling.”
“A former league employee compared the atmosphere when he worked in Xinjiang to “World War II Germany.”
The program, launched in 2016, is part of the NBA’s strategy to develop local players in a basketball-obsessed market that has made NBA China a $5 billion enterprise. Most of the former employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared damaging their chances for future employment. NBA officials asked current and former employees not to speak with ESPN for this story. In an email to one former coach, a public relations official added: “Please don’t mention that you have been advised by the NBA not to respond.”
One American coach who worked for the NBA in China described the project as “a sweat camp for athletes.”
At least two coaches left their positions in response to what they believed was mistreatment of young players.”
The league confirmed recently that it had severed ties with the Xinjiang academy.
“Imagine you have a kid who’s 13, 14 years old, and you’ve got a grown coach who is 40 years old hitting your kid,” one former coach told ESPN. “We’re part of that. The NBA is part of that.”
Bruce Palmer, a former technical director at a Chinese school that partnered with the NBA, said he had to repeatedly tell Chinese instructors not to strike their students. Palmer said the school’s principal told him that hitting the students has “been proven to be effective as a teaching tool.”
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Deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum said the NBA has realized the need to have a “direct oversight” with the academy project in China.
“We were somewhat humbled,” Tatum said, per ESPN. “One of the lessons that we’ve learned here is that we do need to have more direct oversight and the ability to make staffing changes when appropriate.”
The league has been attempting to repair its relations with the country, which represents its largest market outside the U.S. The NBA has estimated it would lose about $400 million in revenue because of the Hong Kong tweet sent by Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey.
