The conflict between the NBA and China
over the Hong Kong protests continued this week.
But now, King James has stepped into the fray.
MAN: In Hong Kong tonight,
basketball superstar LeBron James under fire,
his famed jersey up in smoke.
Furor growing over his response
to this tweet sent by Houston Rockets'
general manager Daryl Morey earlier this month
in apparent support of anti-government protesters.
JAMES: I don't want to get into a feud with Daryl.
Um, with Daryl, uh, Morey.
But I believe he wasn't educated on-on the situation at hand.
MAN: Those comments setting off a political brushfire
here at home.
Republican senators quick to pounce.
Rick Scott of Florida writing,
"Clearly, King James is the one
who isn't educated on the situation."
Nebraska's Ben Sasse--
"You're parroting communist propaganda.
China is running torture camps, and you know it."
Yes, LeBron James is getting a lot of heat
for not taking a stand against China and their oppression,
with people even burning his jersey in Hong Kong.
Which, by the way, if the NBA kept statistics
of most jerseys burned, I think LeBron would dominate that, too.
Yeah. Yeah. Hong Kong burns his jersey.
Cleveland burned his jersey.
Miami burned his jersey.
Like, forget Nike. LeBron should get sponsored
by Kingsford lighter fluid. That's what they should do.
(laughter, applause)
This guy's been killing it in every field.
(applause)
And you know, normally, I would agree
that NBA Players shouldn't have to know the intricacies
of East Asia policy, but at the same time,
Dennis Rodman is basically the U.S. ambassador to North Korea,
so I don't know what the rules are anymore.
I don't know how it works.
I also understand why people think
LeBron's comments were insensitive or misguided,
but at the same time, I get where he's coming from.
Yeah. 'Cause the Houston Rockets' GM slammed China
on Twitter when LeBron was on his way to China.
So LeBron was probably like,
"Hey, man, start this beef after I leave.
What's wrong with you, man? I'm going there."
'Cause I would do the same thing.
Like, if you asked me in China
what I thought about China's policies, I'd be like,
"Uh, I think China has policies?
"And they are the policies that allow me
to fly home from China?"
(laughter)
All right, but let's move on to a more American scandal
involving Gina Rodriguez.
Some people have said that the Latina actor has a history
of making insensitive
or condescending remarks about black people.
And yesterday, she did not do herself any favors.
WOMAN: Be careful what you post on Instagram.
Here is your fair warning
because actress Gina Rodriguez learned that hard way.
♪ Voodoo, I could do what you do, believe me ♪
♪ Niggas give me heebie-jeebies... ♪
Now apologizing for using the "N" word in a post.
Hey, what's up, everybody? I just wanted
to reach out and apologize. I am sorry.
I am sorry if I offended anyone
by singing along to the Fugees
to a song I love, that I grew up on.
I love Lauryn Hill.
And, um, I really am sorry if offended you.
Okay, here's Trevor's tip of the day.
If you insist on saying the "N" word
when you're rapping along with a song,
uh, don't do it on Instagram. Yeah.
Do it on The Masked Singer, okay? Yeah.
'Cause then, people have to wait three weeks
to see if they get to be mad at you. Yeah.
They'll be like, "I think that was T-Pain who said it,
but if it was Donny Osmond, his ass is in big trouble!"
(laughter)
I also think rappers should help. Yeah.
'Cause, like, they make the songs.
I think rappers could help prevent these incidents
from happening in the first place, right?
'Cause think about it.
Rappers already make songs that are safe for radio.
I think now they need to make versions of their songs
that are safe for non-black people.
Yeah. They can just, like, replace the "N" word
with something safe like-like, "my friends."
You know what I mean? Yeah, just change it. Just like...
♪ And if you don't know, now you know ♪
♪ My friend. ♪
(laughter)
It's a lot safer for everyone.
(applause)
They should just do it, to, like, every single song.
♪ Ball so hard, m... wanna fine me ♪
♪ First my friends gotta find me? ♪
And finally, some tech news that'll change the way
you make obscene gestures at your phone.
NEWSWOMAN: Google's newest phone works without even touching it.
The Pixel 4 was unveiled at an event in New York City.
Like Apple's iPhone, users can unlock the Pixel
with their face, but the feature getting the most buzz
is gesture control.
So let's say you're driving, listening to music,
and you want to advance to the next track--
you don't like that one-- or you want to go back
and listen to it again...
Google is hoping the new tech will lead to more sales
in the highly competitive smartphone market.
Wow!
The first phone
that will turn everyone into a magician's assistant.
Call Mom.
(laughter)
This really is amazing technology.
You can open your phone just by waving at it.
No one's ever had this technology--
except the front door of a Walgreens.
-(laughter) -Never have we seen it before.
You know what's weird is, how, like, the way we unlock
our phones is evolving.
Right? Because first we had to type in a code,
and then we just had to pick it up and look at it.
Now we can just wave at it without touching it.
It feels like we're, like,
slowing breaking up with our phone.
Like, we're just moving away. The next one will let you
unlock your phone be being like, "It's not you. It's me."
You know who I also feel bad for?
Bernie Sanders. Yeah. He shouldn't get this phone.
He's gonna be setting that thing off all the time
without meaning to. It's just gesture control?
He's gonna be like, "And that's why
we need to take on the one percent."
-"Calling the one..." -"No, no, no, I'm not calling!
I'm not calling! Cancel! Cancel!"