ESPN Uncovers Abuse at the NBA Training Academies in China

The NBA is facing another controversy involving China.  After refusing to take the side of social justice and freedom of oppressed people in Hong Kong at the hands of the Chinese government, the NBA is facing a new controversy involving their training academies in China.

ESPN uncovered physical abuse at the training academies.  In addition to the abuse the young players were not being provided schooling, despite the fact that the NBA stated it would be central to the program.

From ESPN:

American coaches at three NBA training academies in China told league officials their Chinese partners were physically abusing young players and failing to provide schooling, even though commissioner Adam Silver had said that education would be central to the program, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the complaints.

The NBA ran into myriad problems by opening one of the academies in Xinjiang, a police state in western China where more than a million Uighur Muslims are now held in barbed-wire camps. American coaches were frequently harassed and surveilled in Xinjiang, the sources said. One American coach was detained three times without cause; he and others were unable to obtain housing because of their status as foreigners.

A former league employee compared the atmosphere when he worked in Xinjiang to "World War II Germany."

The NBA can't be surprised by this can they?  They had to know that a country with a government known for human rights violations could possibly abuse kids at their training academies.

I wonder if we'll hear anything from our favorite NBA political voices.  Something tells me Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich won't say a word about it.  They better not utter a single word.  Free Hong Kong was an extremely controversial statement.