Young NBA Fan Baits Cameraman with Clippers Jersey, Reveals Pro-Hong Kong Shirt Before He Pans Away
A young NBA fan got the best of a cameraman on Tuesday night during the season opener between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
During a “Dance Cam” segment at the game, a cameraman panned toward a fan in the audience waving a Clippers jersey feverishly trying to get attention. Once the camera got to him, the fan dropped the jersey to reveal a shirt in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
“A Young fan tricked the camera operator at last night’s Clippers-Lakers game to show his ‘Free Hong Kong’ shirt,” Rob Tornoe tweeted.
A young fan tricked the camera operator at last night’s Clippers-Lakers game to show his “Free Hong Kong” shirt.” (h/t @reddit) pic.twitter.com/ScxTjz3OKL
— Rob Tornoe (@RobTornoe) October 23, 2019
There were several moments that the camera was on the young spectator, with the shirt reading, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”
After the cameraman discovered what the shirt said, he quickly moved the camera away from the fan until the network switched cameras.
The NBA has been enveloped in controversy related to the Hong Kong protests in the past few weeks.
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support of protestors in Hong Kong against the Chinese government on Oct. 4. He later deleted the tweet and apologized for his comments.
After Morey’s comments, the NBA doubled-down on its support for the Chinese government, with many players like Lebron James standing with China on the matter.
Since the controversy has started, the NBA has received backlash for its attempts to censor support of the Hong Kong protestors.
China even retaliated by canceling events and banning in-country coverage of preseason games earlier this month, Fox News reported.
The young fan at the Lakers-Clippers game was holding one of an estimated 13,000 shirts that were handed out before the start of the game.
“These T-shirts, approximately 13,000 of them, were printed and hauled out to downtown L.A. in a moving van and are currently being handed out on the streets surrounding Staples Center for free, hours before Lakers-Clippers tips off,” NBA reporter Dave McMenamin tweeted.
These T-shirts, approximately 13,000 of them, were printed and hauled out to downtown L.A. in a moving van and are currently being handed out on the streets surrounding Staples Center for free, hours before Lakers-Clippers tips off pic.twitter.com/snbGdd5zSG
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 23, 2019
Protesters gathered outside the Staples Center Tuesday night to continue to voice their support of the Hong Kong demonstrators.
Video footage shows a security guard issuing a warning to the group handing out the shirts outside the arena.
A security guard walked up to the pro-Hong Kong group handing out t-shirts outside of the Lakers/Clippers season opener and issued them a warning https://t.co/QbAl2AVoxx pic.twitter.com/shFfO0s8mJ
— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) October 23, 2019
It seems that the NBA won’t be able to escape this controversy anytime soon thanks to the fans supporting the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
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