NBA will not allow 'FREEHONGKONG'official custom jerseys, but 'Mao Zedong' is fine

The official NBA merch store will not allow customers to create a custom jersey with the name "FREEHONGKONG" on the back, users have found.

When users attempt to make a jersey with the slogan, a message appears stating: "We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered. Please try a different entry."

Upon a variety of tests, The Post Millennial has found that users are able to add the following names on the back of jerseys:

• Stalin - Ruler of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953, responsible for over 20 million deaths.
• Goebbles - German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.
• Mao Zedong - Chinese communist revolutionary who became the founding father of the People's Republic of China, responsible for ~50 million deaths.

Users are able to get around the slogan ban by using 'FREE HK' or similar work-arounds. Users can also add 'FREE TIBET/FREETIBET' on jerseys.

NBA has history of anti-Hong Kong sentiment

In October of last year, NBA star LeBron James was asked about pro-Hong Kong comments made by Rockets GM Daryl Morey, and his comments supporting freedom and democracy.

In response, James said to say: “We all talk about this freedom of speech. Yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others, and you’re only thinking about yourself. I don’t want to get in a word … sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. And so many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say and what we do. Even though yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that too.”