Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Totally Throws Daryl Morey Under the Bus Over Hong Kong Tweet

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, as we know, is never afraid to speak his mind. More than most execs around the NBA, he's simply the kind of individual who won't play coy when he feels strongly about something, and that tendency caused a bit of an overnight riff between himself and team owner Tilman Fertitta.

Late Friday night, Morey, who is in Japan with the Rockets on their preseason tour, fired off a tweet that read, "Fight for Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong," a reference to the recent pro-democracy protests there. The post has since been deleted, but not before Fertitta came across it and clapped back against his GM, asserting that the franchise does not share his position.

With a quick look at Morey's post, it's hard to imagine what the problem is with expressing support for democracy in a country dominated for decades by the authoritarian reign of the Communist Party.

Fertitta, however, clearly wants to do absolutely nothing to inflame the large Chinese fanbase the Rockets have cultivated.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon ultimately reached out to the Rockets owner, and Fertitta clarified his intentions behind coming at Morey in the way that he did.

You don't have to read between the lines to come to grasp the reality that for Fertitta, it's all about money. He's setting the precedent that his GM, as well as every other Rockets employee, will not be permitted to express political sentiments on social media-- even if they're simply meant to support democracy in the face of oppression.