How will the China/Daryl Morey/NBA situation play out? Too soon to tell. People and brands or maybe just brands (Brand LeBron) are all being dragged into the controversy. From USA Today...
There should be no appearance of equivocation from LeBron, delicate as the situation might be. He is Nike’s best compensated and most globally recognized pitchman, and Nike does big business in China. How big?
In the most recent quarter, Nike’s Great China revenue increased by 22% to almost $1.7 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. In early 2016, not long after James signed a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike reported to be worth $1 billion, he had made 12 trips to China for Nike, according to cleveland.com.
Not sure how this will play out — how much power do US cultural entities like the NBA, Nike and LeBron really have in China? We shall soon see.