LeBron James believes Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey ‘was either misinformed or not really educated on the situation’ when he tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar broke his silence as the team returned home from a week-long tour of China which has been dominated by backlash at Morey’s incendiary tweet.

‘Yes, we do have freedom of speech,’ James said. ‘But at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others, when you only think about yourself. I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke.’

James’s Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets were thrust into the controversy when the clubs arrived in China last week to play two exhibition games on Thursday and Saturday amidst turmoil after Morey tweeted a graphic that said, ‘Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.’

Morey’s tweet was in support of the protesters fighting a move by China that would allow extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China.

Human rights has long been an issue in China well before the former British colony returned to mainland control in 1997.

Hong Kong has been rocked since June by protests that were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to officially allow extraditions, but snowballed into a movement calling for more democratic freedoms and police accountability.

James said Morey ‘was either misinformed or not really educated on the situation’ regarding the potential consequences of his tweet

James said Morey was thinking of himself when he made his comment.

‘So many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually,’ the Lakers star continued.

‘So just be careful what we tweet and what we say and what we do. Even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, it can be a lot of negative that comes with it.’

James added: ‘I believe [Morey] was either misinformed or not really educated on the situation, and if he was, then so be it.’

A typical NBA preseason promotional swing through Shanghai and Shenzhen became something else when Daryl Morey (left) tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protesters while the Lakers were in the air on their 13-hour flight to China. NBA commissioner Adam Silver (right) stressed last week that he regrets Chinese NBA fans are upset, but would not apologize for Morey’s tweet

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During his Monday interview, when asked about his thoughts on the political side of the events in China, Lebron James echoed Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s (pictured) belief that he wasn’t educated enough to comment on the situation