It has been almost three days since Daryl Morey, general manager of the NBA's Houston Rockets posted his support for the demonstrators in Hong Kong on Twitter, which caused quite a stir in China. Though Morey himself, the team's owner Tilman Fertitta and the league's Chief Communication Officer Mike Bass later tried to respond to the issue, all they did was trying to distance Morey's post away from the Rockets without including any kind of apology.

Finally, someone made a different move.

On Monday, James Harden, Houston's No. 1 player, apologized in public over his team's general manager's remarks. "We apologize. You know, we love China. We love playing there. For both of us individually, we go there once or twice a year. They show us the most important love," said Harden to reporters as Russell Westbrook stood by him.

"We appreciate them as a fan base. We love everything there about them, and we appreciate the support that they give us individually and as (an) organization."

Meanwhile, another player of the Rockets, Eric Gordon posted "One love" followed by emojis of the Chinese flag and a heart on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

Joseph Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets and director of NBA China, also issued a statement on Facebook to explain why Morey's tweet led to such furious reactions from China.

"Fans in China are calling for an explanation – if they are not getting it from the Houston Rockets, then it is natural that they ask others associated with the NBA to express a view… As a Governor of one of the 30 NBA teams, and a Chinese having spent a good part of my professional life in China, I need to speak up."

"The problem is, there are certain topics that are third-rail issues in certain countries, societies and communities. Supporting a separatist movement in a Chinese territory is one of those third-rail issues, not only for the Chinese government, but also for all citizens in China. The one thing that is terribly misunderstood, and often ignored, by the Western press and those critical of China is that 1.4 billion Chinese citizens stand united when it comes to the territorial integrity of China and the country's sovereignty over her homeland. This issue is non-negotiable," said Tsai in the statement.

"When the topic of any separatist movement comes up, Chinese people feel a strong sense of shame and anger because of this history of foreign occupation… the hurt that this incident has caused will take a long time to repair."

As co-founder of the Chinese internet giant Alibaba, Tsai in August finished the purchase of full ownership of the Nets and the Barclays Center.