Perhaps somewhere in there is an opportunity for the NBA to channel its inner Tarantino to nudge things along. To one way of thinking, Beijing’s power is as omnipresent as the weather—the only task is to work around it. To another way of thinking, change is afoot. Modern China has never been more primed to hear about personal freedoms generally, and freedom of speech specifically. If the league is hoping for freedom of speech, that’s one thing. But if they stand for it, now’s their chance to prove it.