Not even close. The NBA did not ban a player in response to a comment, “Commissioner says league will continue to back Morey’s right to freedom of expression”. Activision / Blizzard on the other hand is actively suppressing speech.
It was a really good move for the NBA, they handled it extremely well, did not spur a controversy, just let the situation be and let fans decide themselves how they want to react to it, while also upholding American values in the process, a very classy move.
I feel that American values would not be falling all over themselves to claim the NBA is an apolitical organization. Or at least the American values I was raised with.
Well, kinda, they're being all wishy-washy about it: