Enes Kanter denounces the double talk of the NBA following his positions on China

While he recently criticized China and even called on other players to do so, LeBron James in particular, concerning the treatment of Uyghurs, China’s actions in Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan, One’s Edges reconsidered his stance for CNN. But above all, he spoke about the management of the subject by the NBA (note that China no longer broadcasts the Celtics following Kanter’s positions). Embarrassed by the lack of position, he puts forward that it is the communication of the NBA which pushed him to act thus.

“The NBA made me do this. Because every time a team or the commissioner talks, they say they’re encouraging the players to talk whatever they want. We give our players the freedom to talk about all the injustices that are happening in the world, all the human rights violations in the world. So they gave me that right. »Enes Kanter

Besides, he doesn’t want to break any rules. He thus tells of an event at the start of the season which is anything but trivial concerning the discomfort in which he plunges behind the scenes of the NBA which would have liked more modesty in the expression of his ideas. But the Turk made it clear that knowing his rights and the NBA rules, he was within his rights and would not change shoes. And if he made it clear that he did not care about receiving a fine, he still spoke of being banned from the league if he persisted. If he obtained an apology from the people concerned at half-time of the same game, he is particularly concerned about the lack of position taken by the NBA, which had acted in the face of social injustice a year ago now.

“I remember it was our first game. It was at Madison Square Garden and I wrote “Free Tibet” on my shoes and went out into the field with it. I remember just before the game two guys from the NBA came up to me telling me I had to take my shoes off and begged me to do it. I asked them if I was breaking any NBA rules by doing this, they said no. And as I reminded them of my First Amendment right to the United States Constitution, my freedom of speech, they told me it was not about being fined, but about being fined. be banned from the league. And I told them no matter who their boss was, I was willing to get banned for wearing these shoes but if I break an NBA rule, let them tell me and I’ll make sure I follow it. Subsequently these men came to apologize at halftime and I told them that I was not at fault vis-à-vis any of the NBA rules. »Enes Kanter

To the owner of @Nike, Phil Knight

How about I book plane tickets for us
and let’s fly to China together.

We can try to visit these SLAVE labor
camps and you can see it with your
own eyes.@KingJames @Jumpman23
you guys are welcome to come too.#EndUyghurForcedLabor pic.twitter.com/241bg887JO

– Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 26, 2021

So, still concerned by the thing and not unsettled for a penny, he spoke about it to Adam Silver, whose answer does not seem sufficient.

“He said yes, we support you against China. I don’t know how true that is. If they really supported me, they would have posted something. They would have made a statement or something. I also said this to Adam. Our matches, those of the Boston Celtics, are no longer broadcast in China, they are banned and that is unacceptable. »Enes Kanter

The NBA’s lack of action reads as a way not to alienate the lucrative Chinese market by entering into political tensions that had already aroused Daryl Morey 2 years ago and which cost him his position as leader of the Rockets after an escalation of tensions between the NBA and China. But Kanter refutes this idea of ​​politics.