Fertitta rejects Morey's Hong Kong protest tweet: Rockets not political

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has a message for his staff: stick to sports.

The restaurant and casino magnate rejected the premise of a tweet made by his team's general manager, Daryl Morey. The longtime Rockets executive had posted an image reading, "Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong." It's a reference to the ongoing political strife in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Morey ultimately deleted the tweet.

Fertitta later downplayed the notion that there was serious friction between him and Morey.

"I have the best general manager in the league," Fertitta told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that (the organization) has no (political) position. We're here to play basketball and not to offend anybody."

The Rockets, long popular in China because of their affiliation with former player Yao Ming, are in the region this preseason for a pair of exhibition games against the Toronto Raptors in Tokyo, Japan.