“I think NBA boss Adam Silver is a coward. I think the owners of the teams are cowards”Freedom said, according to the dpa in an interview of world on Sunday. Get “many of the players for cowards. The NBA is a bunch of cowards.” According to US media, the 30-year-old was released from the Houston Rockets in February. He suspects that his contract was terminated for political reasons.
The 30-year-old Freedom campaigns, among other things, for the rights of the Uyghurs. According to a report by the United Nations, the Muslim minority in the Chinese region of Xinjiang is being subjected to severe reprisals. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment are credible, according to the almost two-month-old UN report. China denies the allegations.
Among other things, Freedom sharply attacked Chinese President Xi Jinping (“brutal dictator”) and hoped for support from the league. But the NBA is about big business, according to Freedom. “More people watch the NBA in China than there are residents in the US. It’s about billions. But what is all this worth compared to human lives?”
Spies are following the basketball star
Freedom also made serious allegations against the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike: “This is the biggest hypocrite company in the world. They talk about justice and at the same time use slave labor in China. It just doesn’t make sense.”
When asked if he had received any response from China, Freedom replied: “The Chinese sent me their spies. After I started criticizing the Chinese dictatorship, someone at the US State Department told me, “Every day from now on, you will get messages from the most beautiful women in the world. Don’t answer. These are Chinese spies.” That shocked me. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
