NBA franchise distances self from minority owner over Uyghur comments

by mcardinal

Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

 

The Golden State Warriors, among the more popular modern NBA franchises, moved quickly on Monday to quell the blowback that started when one of its owners took a decidedly antihumanitarian stance during a podcast.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a billionaire venture capitalist, told listeners of his “All-In” podcast that the alleged human rights violations in China, where that nation has been accused of enacting a genocide against its Uyghur population, are a nonissue.

“Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, okay,” Palihapitiya said. “You bring it up because you really care, and I think it’s nice that you really care, the rest of us don’t care. “I’m just telling you a very hard, ugly truth. Of all the things I care about, yes, it’s below my line.”

When pressed by one of his cohosts, Palihapitiya resorted to a longstanding talking point that American critiques of other countries are off limits so long as any amount of strife exists in the U.S.

“If you’re asking me do I care about a segment of a class of people in another country? Not until we can take care of ourselves will I prioritize them over us,” Palihapitiya said.

Jason Calacanis, another cohost, immediately fought back saying, “To talk about what we have here that we need to fix, and compare it to that … these two things are not morally comparable, they are very far,” co-host Jason Calacanis fired back.”

Palihapitiya’s remarks ignited a firestorm of criticism that ended with the Warriors concurrently downplaying Palihapitiya’s role with the team and categorically opposing his stance.

“As a limited investor who has no day-to-day operating functions with the Warriors, Mr. Palihapitiya does not speak on behalf of our franchise, and his views certainly don’t reflect those of our organization,” the Warriors tweeted Monday.

Critics framed Palihapitiya’s comments as typical of a league they say ignores China’s human rights record even as the NBA has positioned itself as a champion of social justice.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), himself a podcast host, intimated on Twitter that Palihapitiya’s remarks spoke for the entirety of the NBA.

Martin Luther King Day has long been one of the major dates on the NBA calendar, and the league spent Monday promoting civil rights and social justice causes. The Los Angeles Lakers wore warm-up t-shirts that read “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all.”

The NBA has not yet offered a statement on Palihapitiya’s comments and likely won’t as Palihapitiya holds virtually no standing in the league.

Palihapitiya has since issued what he referred to as a clarification of his initial comments.  

“In re-listening to this week’s podcast, I recognize that I come across as lacking empathy,” Palihapitiya tweeted. “I acknowledge that entirely. As a refugee, my family fled a country with its own set of human rights issues so this is something that is very much a part of my lived experience. To be clear, my belief is that human rights matter, whether in China, the United States, or elsewhere. Full stop.”

Palihapitiya, a native of Sri Lanka, also serves on the board of Virgin Atlantic and is the founder of Social Capital, a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California, about 32 miles from where the Warriors play their home games.

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