Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, the billionaire CEO of the hospitality group Landry’s Inc., was at the White House on Monday with other industry heads to meet with President Trump about paths to restaurants reopening. But in that same meeting, Fertitta threw his general manager under the bus.
It feels like forever ago, but ahead of the NBA season, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sparked a major controversy for the league when he tweeted, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
While Morey was voicing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democratic efforts, China took offense to the tweet. And given the NBA’s deep financial ties with China — a partnership that has long had the NBA walking a moral tightrope — Adam Silver was put in a position to mitigate financial repercussions while also defend Morey’s right to express his values.
Fertitta — one of the league’s weakest owners from a financial standpoint who also furloughed 40,000 employees — though, didn’t back Morey at the time. Seeing the potential lost revenue, Fertitta tried to distance himself from Morey’s tweet in October. And on Monday, he mocked Morey’s tweet again while discussing China with Trump.
The interaction between Tilman Fertitta and President Donald Trump about #Rockets GM Daryl Morey
Fertitta: “You know, it’s funny you brought up about China. I should have realized it was gonna be a bad year for China when my general manager tweeted out “Freedom for Hong Kong.” pic.twitter.com/oywIGoDgsW
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) May 18, 2020
He said:
“I should’ve realized that it was going to be a bad year for China when my general manager tweeted out, you know, ‘Freedom for Hong Kong.’ That started my year.”
When Trump asked if Morey was still with the Rockets, Fertitta offered a non-committal answer and called it a “trick question.”
He also wasn’t particularly happy about Russell Westbrook’s and James Harden’s contracts — both exceeding $40 million this season.
Tilman Fertitta and President Trump talking about James Harden and Russell Westbrook
Trump: What did you do with your basketball players that are making 25 million a year?
Fertitta: I have two of them that make 40. Russell and James.
Trump: By the way, they are good players. pic.twitter.com/DZjTZ7r35U
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) May 18, 2020
“They are good, but, they, uh, yes, they are getting paid.”
Yeah, that won’t inspire confidence for Rockets fans hoping to avoid an eventual sell-off.
Fertitta paid $2.2 billion for the Rockets in 2017, and his struggling businesses only mean more uncertainty for the Rockets going forward. But it’s clear that Morey’s tweet is still fresh on Fertitta’s mind … even during a pandemic.
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