Daryl Morey Steps Down as G.M. of the Houston Rockets

By BY SOPAN DEB AND MARC STEIN from NYT Sports Morey’s tweet expressing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters last fall initiated a rift between the N.B.A. and the Chinese government.https://nyti.ms/379eNCJ

Chinese State TV to Air N.B.A. for First Time Since Hong Kong Rift

By BY SOPAN DEB from NYT Sports China Central Television, a state-run network, stopped airing N.B.A. games after a team executive expressed support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong last fall.https://nyti.ms/2IfoiWE

Nets C.E.O. Abruptly Steps Down

By BY SOPAN DEB AND KEVIN DRAPER from NYT Sports David Levy, one of the first hires for the new Nets owner Joe Tsai, stepped down less than two months after joining the franchise as chief executive.https://nyti.ms/2rFH6WP

Raptors Open Championship Defense With a Win Over the Pelicans

By BY MARC STEIN from NYT Sports Toronto started the night with a ring ceremony, and ended it with a 130-122 win in overtime — without Kawhi Leonard.https://nyti.ms/35XNBDQ

LeBron James Faces Backlash Unseen Since ‘The Decision’

By BY SOPAN DEB from NYT Sports The issues of China and protests in Hong Kong are far different from N.B.A. free agency. But nine years later, James, himself, has also changed.https://nyti.ms/2OR2AcA

China Conflict Mutes N.B.A.’s New-Season Buzz

By BY MARC STEIN from NYT Sports Games that count are days away, but the political and financial fallout of a preseason clash with China threatens to reshape the league’s future.https://nyti.ms/31afeGj

N.B.A.-China Spat Shows Sports Isn’t (and Shouldn’t Be) Just About Games

By BY JOHN BRANCH from NYT Sports The idea of sports being mainly about what happens on the courts and fields has always been a myth.https://nyti.ms/2OFSHyk

N.B.A. Executive’s Hong Kong Tweet Starts Firestorm in China

By BY SOPAN DEB from NYT Sports Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted a tweet supporting protesters in Hong Kong, upsetting the Chinese Basketball Association led by the Hall of Famer Yao Ming.https://nyti.ms/2olwsmz