Phil Mickelson has been getting a LOT of heat lately. Phil has been the face of a new Saudi backed golf league and the world believes he's just stuffing his pockets with oil money. In fact, some believe the PGA has suspended Mickelson due to his relationship with the Saudi golf league. But here's the thing, Phil recently burned the bridge at both ends. He's got the PGA upset with him for working with the Saudis. And he's upset sponsors and possibly the Saudi nation itself when he said the money was worth it, despite any human right abuses Saudi Arabia is known for.

So although most of the heat he's receiving has been well deserved, it caused us to wonder, exactly how different is this from what the NBA is doing in China? China is well known for human rights atrocities. The NBA for years has turned a blind eye to.

Yahoo sports reports that the NBA has "ignored authoritarian crackdowns and ethnic persecution as it built and monetized a rabid fan base in China. It ran an abusive basketball academy in a police state where Muslims are interned in concentration camps. When Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong last October, and the Chinese government attacking democratic freedoms in Hong Kong bristled, the NBA moved swiftly to salvage its relationship with that government."

The NBA has done all of this development and growth and expansion into the Chinese market being well aware of all the terrible actions going on in the nation.

Who is the less disgusting in this comparison? It's got to be Phil. At least he is willing to acknowledge who he's in bed with. There a difference between turning a blind eye and wanting us to turn a blind eye. Mickelson is giving us the truth and lying in the bed he's made. Even if accidentally.