Lakers’ trip to China suddenly includes navigation through thorny political issues

Tuesday’s forecast for Shanghai is not terribly different from Los Angeles weather: sunny, low-70s, little chance of rain.
But even as the Lakers boarded a flight Monday morning bound for China, they knew they were about to fly into a storm.
Sunday’s news cycle was bombarded by reaction to a Friday tweet from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey: “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” The NBA is generally a league that is permissive about expressing personal vi