Mark Cuban said that he is “okay with doing business with China” despite the country’s human rights abuses.
But the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team also said that he condemns human rights abuses worldwide, including China, and he is working to increase the number of slots available to asylum seekers hoping to escape China’s ethnic cleansing of minority Uighurs.
Cuban made the comments during a sometimes-combative discussion on the Oct. 12 episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast. Cuban and host Megyn Kelly also debated whether the NBA’s embrace of the Black Lives Matter social justice movement is to blame for the dramatic drop in viewership of the NBA Finals.
Toward the end of the interview, Kelly contrasted the league’s embrace of the Black Lives Matter social justice movement with the NBA’s seemingly apparent willingness to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses currently happening in China, leading to the exchange.
NBA Finals viewership down
Kelly posited that viewers are fleeing because they object to the politicization of the game, noting that this season saw the lowest Finals viewership ever.
Cuban agreed that the ratings were disappointing, but he didn’t agree that it had anything to do with the league’s embrace of social justice issues.
“The whole thing about politics is nonsense” he said, dismissing the notion that viewership is down due to the NBA’s support for the social justice Black Lives Matter movement.
In August, Cuban tweeted that, “In 25 yrs when 2020 is reviewed in history classes, no one will discuss the cable-news shows, the President’s or anyone’s tweets. Students will learn who among us stood up for what is Just, Right and Fair. I’m proud the @NBA and our players will be central to that conversation.”
Despite support for social justice issues, NBA careful to not upset China
In 2019, Lebron James criticized Houston Rockets General Manger Daryl Morey for tweeting in support of pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. Soon after, the NBA put out a statement calling Morey’s tweets “regrettable.”
The Associated Press reported that a Mandarin language post the NBA shared in China read differently: it called Morey’s comment “inappropriate” and said that the NBA was “extremely disappointed.”
Kelly pressed Cuban on if the league should be doing more to stand up to China over the issue of human rights abuses, including how the government is treating the Uighurs.
“I personally put a priority on domestic issues. When it comes to human rights violations, I’m against all human rights violations around the world,” Cuban said. Kelly interjected, attempting to get him to answer about human rights violations in China, but Cuban replied with a similar answer: “China’s not the only country with human rights violations. I’m against all human rights violations.”
Kelly pressed him again, specifically about China, to which Cuban answered, “Yes, including China. Any human rights violations anywhere are wrong.”
RELATED: If you’re frustrated by media bias, inject Megyn Kelly’s podcast straight into your veins
Kelly said that the NBA will not condemn China, to which Cuban said, “I just told you I’m against human rights violations everywhere, including China.”
Kelly then asked: “Do you condemn the genocide that’s going right now in China toward the Uighurs?” Cuban replied, “I condemn all human rights violations, yes.”
Kelly asked Cuban why the NBA would take more than $500 million dollars from a country that is engaging in ethnic cleansing, to which Cuban answered, “Because they are a customer. They are a customer of ours.” He added, “I’m okay with doing business with China.”
However, Cuban said that he’s been actively working to increase the number of slots available for asylum seekers hoping to come to the United States. Cuban said that there are more than 200,000 Uighurs on the waitlist to get asylum, and he said the way he knows that is because he went to the State Department and contributed the resources to figure that number out.
Before buying the Mavericks, Cuban made a fortune with internet radio startup Broadcast.com. The Silicon Valley character Russ Hanneman, who made his fortune by putting radio on the internet, is supposedly partly based on Cuban.
Cuban has been a regular investor on the popular and long-running ABC show Shark Tank. He also has 25 acting credits on his IMDB page, including appearances on the TV series Entourage, Billions, and Brooklyn-Nine-Nine.
Join the Discussion