"Would not be appropriate" - Adam Silver slams Chinese newspaper that falsely published LeBron James' quotes as op-ed in support of Communist regime

LeBron James is a transcendent star whose comments draw the attention of countries across the globe. Recently, James has gotten caught up in a situation wherein his quotes were reportedly used by a publication for an entirely different purpose.

In a piece published by The New York Times on Saturday, Mara Hvistendahl and Tania Ganguli reported that a Chinese newspaper had published an opinion piece supposedly written by James last month. According to Hvistendahl and Ganguli, no less than NBA Commissioner Adam Silver slammed the newspaper's decision to use James' quotes from an interview in China and turn the sound bites into a fraudulent composition.

"Taking words somebody said and then making it seem as a first-person Op-Ed would not be appropriate," Silver was quoted as saying.

Jonathan Cheng

@JChengWSJ

“Taking words somebody said and then making it seem as a first-person Op-Ed,” Mr. Silver told The New York Times, in his first comments about the incident, “would not be appropriate.”

Though the comments of James, who had taken a trip to China in the offseason, had been misappropriated, the LA Lakers superstar was not spared from criticism. According to Hvistendahl and Ganguli, a number of "conservative commentators" in the U.S. are taking shots at James for supposedly "letting Beijing use his fame to whitewash the image of the authoritarian government."

The NBA itself did not go unscathed. As per the Times report, one website has accused the league of "groveling to the communists." Notably, the NBA has brought the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns to Macau, a special administrative region of China, for a pair of pre-season games this month.

A Reuters article has characerized these Macau games as "a test for a broader China comeback." It remains to be seen, however, whether the recent James op-ed controversy will impact the NBA's plans in this regard.

Report: LeBron James will "monitor" the Lakers situation during his absence

James, of course, already has a lot on his plate as he deals with sciatica nerve pain that he is said to have developed in the summer. On top of this, NBA insider Dave McMenamin reported that James is keeping a close eye on the performance of his team.

"LeBron’s gotta be watching, while he’s out. If they are struggling, that could lead to the next step," McMenamin reported.

NBACentral

@TheDunkCentral

LeBron James is expected to monitor the Lakers’ situation while he’s out, per @mcten: “LeBron’s gotta be watching, while he’s out. If they are struggling, that could lead to the next step… When Rich Paul said that LeBron will be watching the Lakers’ every move because the priority is to win. If they are not winning, maybe LeBron might have to go elsewhere.”

McMenamin added that a subpar performance by the Lakers might cause James and his agent Rich Paul to consider moving to another team.