火箭隊和中國球迷各有各的自由

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Global brands better stay away from politics

Daryl Morey Photo： VCG

Daryl Morey， general manager of the NBA team the Houston Rockets， has obviously

gotten himself into trouble

。 He tweeted a photo saying “fight for freedom， stand with Hong Kong” on Saturday while accompanying his team in Tokyo。 The tweet soon set the team‘s Chinese fans ablaze。 It can be imagined how Morey’s tweet made them disappointed and furious。 Shortly afterward， CCTV sports channel and Tencent sports channel both announced they would suspend broadcasting Rockets‘ games。 Some of the team’s Chinese sponsors and business partners also started to suspend cooperation with the Rockets。

休斯敦火箭隊總經理莫雷顯然

闖禍了

。10月5日正隨隊在東京的他逞能針對香港事態發了一條推特，上傳了一張“為自由而戰，與香港站在一起”的照片。這條推特很快引爆了休斯敦火箭隊的中國球迷們，可以想見莫雷的舉動讓他們多麼失望並且憤怒。事情迅速發酵，央視體育和騰訊都宣佈不再播出有休斯敦火箭隊參加的比賽，一些中國贊助商和商業夥伴也宣佈中止與休斯敦火箭隊的合作。

The public opinion over the incident in the US is just the opposite。 Some American media professionals asked Morey and Rockets to

stand firm

。 Andrew Yang， one of the Democratic presidential candidates， said “the Chinese government banning the Rockets is a terrible move。”

事情在美國和西方引起的反響也在逐漸擴散開來，美國輿論當然是與中國這邊反著來的。一些美國媒體人要求刪掉了該推特的莫雷和表示“他只代表自己”的火箭隊都要

立場堅定

，美國民主黨參選人之一楊安澤指責說，“中國政府禁火箭隊”是糟糕的一步。

The incident shows an expanding worldwide culture gap。 Imagine if Morey publicly tweeted support for the Beijing and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government， would rioters in Hong Kong

smash up

Rockets‘ logos in the city？

這件事是世界裂痕不斷擴大的時代發生的又一起文化摩擦。設想一下，莫雷如果發一條公開挺北京和香港特區政府的推特，香港的那些示威者會不會把火箭隊在香港的標誌給

砸了

？

Commercial and cultural organizations which engage in transnational operations should manage their attitudes and statements over sensitive issues。 Impulsive words can easily trigger a backlash。

所以說從事跨國經營的商業及文化組織都需要管理好針對敏感事務的表態，不可衝動胡來，否則不得罪這頭就得罪那頭，甚至兩頭不討好。

As the general manager of the Rockets， Morey shoulders the main responsibility for the marketing of his team， but he

invited trouble

on himself and offended the public on the Chinese mainland。 His professional capability is simply too poor。

莫雷身為火箭隊總經理，對火箭隊的市場營銷負有主要責任，卻主動

引火燒身

，逞冒犯中國內地公眾的能，他作為經理人的職業素質不能不說太低了。

Some Americans try to link Morey’s tweet with so-called “freedom of speech。” That is ridiculous。 Morey does have the freedom to praise Hong Kong protesters， just like the Chinese fans also have the freedom to abandon the Rockets。 The problem is that Morey‘s freedom is at the expense of Rockets’ huge commercial interests， which the team is unwilling to give up。 It‘s a paradox with which Americans are grappling。

美國一些人極力將莫雷發那個推特往“言論自由”上靠。這種解釋好滑稽。他的確有稱讚香港示威者的自由，但中國的球迷們也有拋棄火箭隊的自由。問題在於莫雷個人的自由要以火箭隊的巨大商業利益做代價，後者捨不得，這本來就是美國人自己之間的糾結。

Respecting customers is a universal business rule。 Morey has to choose between safeguarding his individual freedom of speech and protecting the Rockets’ commercial interests by respecting the feelings of Chinese fans。 When he opted for the former， the Rockets will have to make a second choice from the perspective of the team。

尊重客戶，這是普世的商業規則。莫雷要在維護個人的言論自由和透過尊重中國球迷的感情來保護火箭隊的在華商業利益之間進行選擇。當他選擇前者時，火箭隊就要從該組織的角度進行二次選擇。

This incident has nothing to do with the Chinese government。 Yang‘s accusations were a poor tactic of a politician aimed at soliciting attention。 The issue first of all is about the market。 All Chinese fans are watching how the Rockets and NBA handle this crisis。 Whether the team apologizes， in what way， and how it deals with Morey will directly influence fans’ enthusiasm for the Rockets and even the NBA。

這件事無關中國政府，民主黨參選人楊安澤說那樣的話，屬於一個政客以低劣的方式蹭熱點。這首先是個市場問題，火箭隊和NBA如何處理這場危機，全體中國的球迷們都在盯著看。火箭隊是否表達歉意，以什麼方式表達，以及對莫雷是否做出處理，將直接影響中國球迷對火箭隊甚至NBA的熱情。

It‘s believed the Rockets have felt the

intricacy

of the matter as the franchise is also facing great ideological pressure from the US side。

相信火箭隊感受到事情的

棘手

，因為美國那邊同樣有一隻意識形態的手槍頂在該隊的腰間。

How much wisdom the Rockets have to overcome the crisis and minimize the

adverse effects

will become an interesting test case。

火箭隊有多大的智慧來處理這場危機，把

不良影響

最小化，將成為一個有意思的樣本。

The biggest lesson which can be drawn from the matter is that entities that value commercial interests must make their members speak cautiously。 Chinese consumers are not overly sensitive。 Wherever it is， touching a raw political nerve is extremely risky。 Morey has neither the IQ nor the EQ to talk about political topics。 He will become an example of clumsiness on some MBA courses。

此事的最大教訓還是告訴人們，看重商業利益的機構，一定要管理好其主要成員的嘴巴。中國消費者並非有超出世界平均標準的敏感，無論在什麼地方，捅政治的馬蜂窩都有著極高風險。莫雷根本沒有碰政治話題的水平，他的智商和情商顯然都不夠。他將作為一個笨拙的符號被某些MBA課程提及。

本文系環球網、環球時報英文網站社評，中文部分有所刪減。