NBA: Philadelphia 76ers executive Daryl Morey fined $50,000 for James Harden tweet

New York: Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, whose tweet last year about Hong Kong protesters led to an NBA-China rift, is in trouble again for another social media posting. The NBA said Monday it has issued Morey a $50,000 fine for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule. The penalty was imposed for a since-deleted social media post Morey made on 20 December regarding Houston Rockets star James Harden, the NBA’s top scorer each of the past three seasons. Harden has said he wants to be traded from the Rockets and one of the teams he indicated he would accept a deal to join was the 76ers. The tweet celebrated a feat done by Harden a year earlier. Morey knows Harden’s talents well. Morey had served as general manager of the Rockets from 2007 until departing this past October and then joining the 76ers last month. In October 2019, Morey sent tweets supportive of protests in Hong Kong, leading China to stop NBA television coverage for a year and sever sponsorship ties and other deals. The 76ers are off to a 2-1 start to the 2020-21 campaign while the Rockets lost their opener after having a game postponed when they could not field a minimum eight players. Absences were due to Covid-19 issues, including Harden needing to be isolated and tested after appearing at a party in violation of NBA safety protocols.