Chinese state media: Silver 'fabricated lies' to paint country as unforgiving

One day after the Chinese government denied calling for the firing of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, the country's state media took their own shot at Adam Silver.

CCTV said Silver's claims were an act of defamation and the NBA commissioner had "crossed the bottom line of the Chinese people" by continuing to support Morey.

"Silver has spared no effort to portray himself as a fighter for free speech and used freedom of speech as an excuse to cover for Morey, who voiced his support for the violent actors in Hong Kong," the CCTV said in a commentary on Saturday, according to Catherine Wong of South China Morning Post.

"To please some American politicians, Silver has fabricated lies out of nothing and has sought to paint China as unforgiving."

Silver spoke about the league's tense relations with China at the Time 100 Health Summit on Thursday. He said the country's government made it clear they wanted Morey canned over his tweet supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

The Rockets executive has sparked a movement that's extended into North America. Pro-Hong Kong protests have been a common scene throughout the NBA's preseason.

At Friday's exhibition affair between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors, an entire section filled with protesters sported "Stand with Hong Kong" T-shirts.