David Stern and former Houston Rockets player Yao Ming Photo: web

Chinese fans and national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on Thursday extended heartfelt condolences over the death of former NBA commissioner David Stern, even though the US basketball league's situation drastically worsened in China after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey's tweet in support of Hong Kong rioters and current NBA commissioner Adam Silver's remarks irritated Chinese fans in October 2019.

According to CNN, Stern died at the age of 77 on January 1, as a result of a brain hemorrhage he suffered approximately three weeks ago, quoting NBA sources.

Although CCTV has not resumed airing any of the ongoing NBA games of the 2019-20 season after the Morey and Silver incidents in October, it published an article via its CCTV News official WeChat account on Thursday afternoon commemorating the late NBA commissioner.

The CCTV article referred to Stern as "the one who opened the country's door for NBA in the late 1990s," and the article featured screenshots of Stern's interview footage with Yao Ming, who was drafted by the Houston Rockets with a first pick in 2002 when the league was still under Stern's management. Yao is now chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.

On Chinese Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, the topic under the hashtag #formerNBAcommissionerdavidsternpassedaway became one of the most discussed on Thursday, gathering over 230 million views and some 30,000 comments as of press time.  

To many basketball fans, the name of the former NBA boss represents a honeymoon period between China and the US league, which regretfully was significantly harmed by the sitting NBA commissioner Silver and Rockets GM Morey with their irresponsible remarks. Stern spent 30 years opening the door to the Chinese market, and Silver and Morey shut it in 30 seconds, some netizens then said. 

"Stern, just like Yao, established a bridge between basketball fans from China and the US, between the two countries, two peoples," wrote one Weibo user. 

"Being called at the NBA Draft by Stern was a dream for many Chinese basketball lovers and athletes… May he now rest in peace," wrote another.