Dennis Rodman Says He Can Mend NBA's Relationship With China Because He Knows 'a Thing or Two About Diplomacy'

Dennis Rodman believes he can solve the issue between the NBA and China. The former NBA star [...]

Dennis Rodman believes he can solve the issue between the NBA and China. The former NBA star recently posted a video on his Twitter account, asking league commissioner Adam Silver if he could go to China with him to help work things out.

"Commissioner Adam Silver, I know a thing or two about diplomacy. Book me a ticket to Shanghai with you!" he said.

In the video, Rodman was holding two photos. One was a photo with him meeting North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un and another photo was him talking to President Donald Trump. The reason there is tension between the NBA and the Chinese government has to do what Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said about the Hong Kong protested. In the now-deleted tweet, Morey wrote, "Fight for Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong." The Chinese government was angry about the tweet and the Chinese Basketball Association suspended all cooperation with the Rockets.

Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta released a statement about the tweet saying what Morey tweeted doesn't mean the organization feels the same way.

"I have the best general manager in the league. Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the organization] has no [political] position. We're here to play basketball and not to offend anybody," Fertitta said.

Even Rockets star James Harden got involved as he apologized to Chine in wake of Morey's comments.

"We apologize. You know, we love China. We love playing there," Harden said. "For both of us individually, we go there once or twice a year. They show us the most important love," he said via ESPN.

The reasons Morey tweeted the statement has to do with the issues with the government and the citizens. Over the summer, a piece of legislation was introduced in Hong Kong that would "extradite criminal suspects back to China, dropping them into a Chinese justice system in which most criminal trials end in a conviction." That led to a number of protests and the demonstrations turned violent. Right now the bill is considered "dead."

As for Rodman, it's uncertain if he is the right guy to solve the problem. But he does have experience talking to political leaders, so Silver could consider bringing Rodman if things get out of hand.

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