Silver rejected criticism from Trump and conservatives who have accused the league of cozying up to China’s Communist Party simply to do business with the country’s massive fan base. The NBA is currently making billions of dollars off of its Chinese consumers, which came to a head last year when the Houston Rockets’ general manager tweeted out in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. “As a result, we were taken off the air, Chinese Central Television, for the first time in 30 years. And our games are still not back on the air, as a result of our supporting that general manager and supporting, frankly, American values, the values of free speech,” Silver said, adding that the NBA has had ties to China since the Washington Bullets played a game there in 1979.