Former ESPN journalist Bob Ley wondered in a current podcast interview about whether or not the exact criticism of LIV Golf and its ties to Saudi Arabia ought to be used to the NBA and its ties to China.

Ley appeared on Michelle Beadle’s podcast "What Did I Miss?" And the two former ESPN personalities talked about sportswashing amid the emergence of LIV Golf. 

The rival golfing tour and the players who have joined the league have been seriously scrutinized and accused of aiding Saudi Arabia use sportswashing to ease criticism of the kingdom’s human-rights violations. 

Lots of players have recognized big sums of income to be part of the league, but most have downplayed income as a explanation they joined the league and left the PGA Tour.

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Longtime ESPN anchor Bob Ley, correct, speaks with ESPN coordinating director Chip Dean at the company's 40th anniversary celebration Friday. (Getty Photographs)

Ley instructed Beadle on the podcast the exact same sum of scrutiny ought to apply to the NBA’s marriage with China.

"The LIV Golfing matter has unleashed a fury of practical and simple outrage, not that I disagree with it at all. … It’s genuine simple to be p----- off and angry about LIV Golf and Saudi. All I ask for is philosophical and ideological consistency. Apply it to China continually, LeBron," he claimed.

Ley pointed out the NBA’s response to previous Houston Rockets normal manager Daryl Morey’s supportive tweet of Hong Kong protesters back in 2019. The tweet put the NBA’s marriage with China in a bind, which later on opened the doorway to just how close the two entities ended up tied. The result was a blackout of NBA games in China for quite a few months, costing the league hundreds of thousands.

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LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman stands on a tee box all through the remaining round of the inaugural LIV Golfing Invitational at the Centurion Club in St. Albans, England, June 11, 2022. (WHD Photo/Alastair Grant)

"There’s been other reporting. I signify, the Fainaru brothers at ESPN.com have revealed some of the factors with camps and understanding of what the NBA’s included with," Ley mentioned. "China has as many issues as any other place, and is the outrage tempered by the reputation of the sport and the bucks at stake?" 

He also stated particularly that LeBron James experienced an "opportunity" to increase the curtain on the situation. He’s not finished so. James’ Los Angeles Lakers workforce was in China when the fallout from the tweet begun. He waited until eventually absolutely everyone was back again in the U.S. to make a assertion.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a free throw all through a recreation versus the Detroit Pistons Nov. 28, 2021 at Staples Heart in Los Angeles. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE through Getty Photographs)

"LeBron, I assume, has a responsibility, and an option extra importantly." Ley mentioned. "And it is simple for people to occur to the summary that players, at a time when social voice and fairness are extremely substantially a part of sports, moreso than at any time before, here’s an prospect to make a stand. 

"If you are a billionaire, you can find the money for to probably make a stand and at the very least turn out to be educated. Liberty of speech in China is a incredibly distinctive detail. Liberty of access to the online is a pretty distinct detail. Is there an opposition celebration in China? Oh no, not for the past 60 or 70 years. Are we at ease dealing with a country like that and placing it all on the desk? All those are inquiries people need to have to solution.

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"If you want to get into a froth about LIV Golf — and you have every right to — just take a pause, get a deep breath, and look at China. Should this outrage and really should this introspection increase to the NBA?"