《人民日報》詹姆斯「署名文章」：NBA面臨的政治雷區
Did LeBron James Write for a Communist Paper? No, but China Said He Did.
Last month, People’s Daily, a Communist Party newspaper, published what looked like a rare opinion column by a foreigner, the basketball star LeBron James. In it, he praised basketball as a cultural bridge between countries. The problem: Mr. James never wrote it.
上月，中共黨報《人民日報》刊發了一篇看似罕見的外國人署名評論文章，作者是籃球明星雷霸龍·詹姆斯。文中他盛讚籃球是國家間的文化橋樑。但問題在於：詹姆斯從未寫過這篇文章。
Mr. James had been talking to Chinese reporters while on a trip there, and the newspaper turned those comments into an essay with his name on it. Being depicted as the author of a piece in People’s Daily, the voice of the ruling party, is no small matter; it suggested that Mr. James was endorsing Beijing’s message at a time of deep tensions with Washington.
For Adam Silver, the commissioner of the N.B.A., that crossed a line. “Taking words somebody said and then making it seem as a first-person Op-Ed,” Mr. Silver told The New York Times, in his first comments about the incident, “would not be appropriate.”
NBA總裁蕭華(Adam Silver)認為這種做法越過了底線。他在首次就此事發聲時向《紐約時報》表示：「截取他人言論，將其包裝成第一人稱評論文章，這種做法並不恰當。」
The backlash in America to what people thought was an opinion piece was swift. Conservative commentators said Mr. James was letting Beijing use his fame to whitewash the image of the authoritarian government. One website said the N.B.A. was “groveling to the communists.”
在美國，公眾誤以為這是詹姆斯主動撰寫的評論文章，隨即引發強烈反彈。保守派評論人士指責詹姆斯任由中國政府利用其名氣，為威權政府形象「洗白」；一個網站稱NBA「向共產黨卑躬屈膝」。
廣告
The incident was only the latest reminder of the potential political minefield the league faces as it resumes play in China after a six-year absence.
這一事件再次提醒人們：在時隔六年後重返中國市場之際，NBA面臨著潛在的政治雷區。
The Brooklyn Nets will play the Phoenix Suns in Macau on Sunday night, the second of two preseason games. The games are the result of a yearslong effort by the league — and by Patrick Dumont, a casino mogul turned team owner — to regain its footing in China, a hugely important market.
週日晚，布魯克林籃網隊與菲尼克斯太陽隊在澳門上演對決，這是兩場季前賽中的第二場。此次賽事是NBA聯盟——以及從賭場大亨轉型為球隊老闆的派翠克·杜蒙——為重新進入中國這個極其重要的市場而多年努力的結果。
China has its own reasons for welcoming back the N.B.A. The Chinese government has been struggling to breathe life into an economy where people have been holding back on spending.
中國對NBA的回歸也有自己的考量。面對民眾消費意願低迷，中國政府正竭力為經濟注入活力。
Beijing wants to use sports and international events to “boost overall consumption,” said Crystal Wang, an expert on Chinese sports with the consultancy Deloitte in Shanghai. “That is from the top.”
德勤上海辦公室的中國體育業務專家克里斯塔·王（音）表示：「中國政府希望藉助體育賽事及國際活動『拉動整體消費』，這是自上而下的決策。」
According to state media, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has a soft spot for basketball, having played pickup games while working as a local official in Hebei Province.
據官方媒體報導，中國領導人習近平對籃球情有獨鍾，在河北擔任地方官員期間，曾多次參與業餘籃球比賽。
Beijing hopes the league can showcase China as open and welcoming. The government has turned to athletes, scholars and influencers to promote “people to people” ties aimed at countering hostility from both sides of the political aisle in the United States.
中國政府希望通過這項賽事展現開放友好的國家形象。目前，政府正藉助運動員、學者及網路紅人推動「民間外交」，以應對美國兩黨對中國的敵意。
Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, for instance, cited what he described as Mr. James’s Op-Ed for People’s Daily, saying on X: “It’s heartening to see sports are bringing our people closer.”
例如，中國駐美大使謝鋒在社交平台X上援引這篇他所謂詹姆斯為《人民日報》撰寫的評論文章，稱：「看到體育正在拉近我們兩國人民的距離，令人欣慰。」
廣告
Basketball is wildly popular in China. That is what makes N.B.A. stars so valuable there — but it also forces the players to walk a razor-thin line between sports and politics.
籃球在中國擁有極高人氣，這使得NBA球星在中國極具商業價值，但同時也迫使球員在體育與政治之間小心翼翼地走鋼絲。
It is a line the league has stumbled over before. In 2019, Daryl Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. That and the league’s refusal to punish Mr. Morey shut the N.B.A. out of China for years, costing the league more than $300 million in revenue.
NBA此前曾在這個問題上栽過跟頭。2019年，時任休士頓火箭隊總經理的達里爾·莫雷發推支持香港民主抗議活動，加之聯盟拒絕處罰莫雷，導致NBA被中國市場封殺數年，損失逾3億美元收入。
But N.B.A. athletes who have traveled to China after the incident have found a lucrative market.
但事件發生後，前往中國的NBA球員發現這裡仍是利潤豐厚的市場。
The Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden, who has criticized Mr. Morey, praised China and even hinted at moving there, has been rewarded by Chinese fans. In 2023, he sold 10,000 bottles of wine from his personal label on a Chinese livestream in seconds.
洛杉磯快船隊球星詹姆斯·哈登曾公開批評莫雷，他不僅盛讚中國，甚至暗示考慮移居中國，這番表態也為他贏得了中國球迷的支持。2023年，他在中國直播平台銷售個人品牌葡萄酒時，幾秒鐘就售出了1萬瓶。
When Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors toured western China in August, he was greeted by an enormous drone show, sponsored by a local tourism board, that depicted him high-fiving a panda.
今年8月，金州勇士隊的斯蒂芬·庫裡赴中國西部巡訪時，當地旅遊部門為其舉辦了盛大的無人機表演，無人機編隊在空中呈現出他與熊貓擊掌的畫面。
Players know to steer clear of politics, said Terry Rhoads, a Shanghai-based sports consultant who helped build a market for the N.B.A. in China while working for Nike. “Every single N.B.A. player that comes out to China is being briefed on, ‘Hey, we’re out there to have fun. We’re out there to get the kids loving basketball.’”
曾在任職耐吉期間助力NBA在中國開拓市場的上海體育行業顧問陸海瑞(Terry Rhoads)表示：「球員們都清楚要避開政治話題。每一位來中國的NBA球員都會被告知：『嘿，我們來這裡是為了享受樂趣，是為了讓孩子們愛上籃球。』」
Mr. Silver said that China put no conditions on speech ahead of the N.B.A. resuming play. But the stakes of offending China are clear.
蕭華稱，中國方面並未在NBA複賽前附加任何言論限制條件。但得罪中國的風險顯而易見。
And they cut both ways: Players also face criticism in the United States if they seem too cozy with Beijing — as the LeBron James episode with People’s Daily showed.
而且這種風險是雙向的：正如詹姆斯《人民日報》事件所顯示的，若球員看似與中國政府關係過密，也會在美國國內招致批評。
廣告
Adam Mendelsohn, an adviser to Mr. James, sought to downplay that incident, saying that the media had “incorrectly characterized” the piece as an Op-Ed that he had written.
詹姆斯的顧問亞當·門德爾松試圖淡化此次事件影響，稱媒體將這篇文章「錯誤定性」為詹姆斯撰寫的評論專欄。
But People’s Daily had described the player as the author of the essay, and promoted it on its official social media account with a post titled: “LeBron James Writes in People’s Daily.”
但《人民日報》當時明確將詹姆斯標註為文章作者，並在其官方社交帳號上以「雷霸龍·詹姆斯在《人民日報》撰文」推廣該內容。
Mr. James had also been accused of pandering to China in 2019 when he criticized Mr. Morey over the tweet.
詹姆斯在2019年就曾因批評莫雷的推文被指責「討好中國」。
“So many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually,” he said at the time. “Yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too.”
他當時表示：「太多人可能會因此受到傷害，不僅是經濟層面，還包括身體、情感和精神層面。沒錯，我們確實擁有言論自由，但這種自由也可能帶來諸多負面影響。」
