Enes Kanter plays basketball in America for the Boston Celtics currently. As a lover of sports, the recent bouts of activism have been super obnoxious and none more so than in basketball. Mostly because we don’t get to hear much about conservative b-ballers or even players who love and respect America. (You know, the country that pays them to play a game).
One player has begun to make some major headlines and it has nothing to do with his sport. Like Lebron James recent behavior off the court, it’s all about his tweets, his op-eds, and most importantly his politics. Mostly specifically with how he feels about China.
Enes Kanter is a practicing Muslim and has written three pieces during his basketball career. One, back in 2017, for The Players Tribune called “They Can Take Away Your Country, Just Like That.” In the piece he discusses Turkey canceling his passports and never taking our freedoms for granted. “We should never forget how important our freedoms are here in America. That’s something you appreciate even more when they are taken away.”
The second op-ed he wrote was for The Washington Post, titled “Enes Kanter: When Ramadan and the NBA playoffs collide, my faith is my strength”. In this he speaks to his religion and the fasting he has to do which often takes place during the playoffs and how difficult it would be if not for his faith.
The third and most recent op-ed once again speaks to his love and appreciation of the freedoms afforded to him in the United States of America. He wrote the piece and had it published in the Wall Street Journal. “Enes Kanter: Move The Olympics For Peng Shuai’s Sake”. In this article, Kanter speaks of the Women’s Tennis player, Peng Shuai and her frightening disappearance after she accused a “former top-ranking official in the Chinese Communist Party of sexually assaulting her.”
Of course, her tweet was removed in less than 30 minutes, she disappeared for and then only recently turned up in what Kanter refers to as “seemingly stage-managed videos”, implying she is still in danger for her attempts to call out the man who’d forced himself on her.
“For decades, Western athletes, celebrities and corporations have diligently kept silent in the face of Chinese human-rights violations. International hotel chains, airlines, apparel brands, sports leagues and Hollywood studios have steered away from “sensitive topics” such as Tibet’s independence, the Uyghur genocide, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and Taiwan’s sovereignty.“
In the video below he spoke to Fox News about Peng Shuai and his ethics, morals, and principals. He also seems to call out Lebron James, though he doesn’t mention any names, when he speaks to the idea that no one should be silenced for the sake of keeping China happy. This is likely alluding to the time when James called out one of the execs for speaking out against China and their record of human rights abuses.
Lakers’ LeBron James on NBA’s China controversy: “I don’t want to get into a … feud with Daryl Morey but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.” pic.twitter.com/KKrMNU0dKR
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) October 15, 2019
The feud between Enes Kanter and Lebron James continues on Twitter as Enes insists that Lebron is in the wrong for his support of China and Nike. Some have pointed out that Enes Kanter wears Nike, too, but that’s because it’s part of his uniform. He doesn’t get to pick another company such as Adidas or Reebok. Nike won the bid and will hold their place as apparel provider to the NBA for 8 total years.
Money over Morals for the “King”
Sad & disgusting how these athletes pretend they care about social justice
They really do “shut up & dribble” when Big Boss says so
Did you educate yourself about the slave labor that made your shoes or is that not part of your research? pic.twitter.com/YUA8rGYeoZ
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 18, 2021
Kanter, who has been playing professional basketball in the USA for 11 years, has decided he cannot remain a Turkish citizen. On Monday, November 29th, Kanter will become an American citizen and when he does, he will legally change his last name to Freedom. He will not be dropping his last name altogether, but instead, will make Kanter his middle name. Reported by Boston’s local CBS channel, the Boston Celtics even stopped streaming their games in China back in October of this past year.
“Early in the season, Kanter spoke out against Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom he called a “brutal dictator” for his policies regarding Tibet. Celtics games are no longer streaming in China because of Kanter’s comments.
“Kanter also spoke out against James ahead of Boston’s game against the Lakers last week, ripping the NBA superstar for his relationship with Nike — and his silence on the company’s use of slave labor in China. Kanter has been putting messages on his sneakers for the majority of Boston’s games this season.”
(Below are some of his sneakers with his messages to China)
Xi Jinping is a control freak!
The Chinese government’s surveillance tech is creating a database about everyone, monitoring everyday life
demanding loyalty to the party
silencing anything & anyone they consider a threat.This digital authoritarianism is a threat to democracies. pic.twitter.com/0y5FAnAOOi
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 22, 2021
The Chinese Government engages in forced organ harvesting.
Ethnic & religious groups,
Tibetans,Uyghurs in death camps, Christians,Falun Gong are all targetedLiver
Kidney
HeartStop murdering for organs.
It’s a crime against humanityEnd forced organ harvesting in China,
NOW! pic.twitter.com/jYfepCopIb— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 16, 2021
Taiwan will never surrender to the EVIL Chinese Communist Party.
Taiwan is a DEMOCRATIC and FREE country.
The future of Taiwan must be determined by the Taiwanese people.
Taiwan is NOT a part of China
and NEVER will be! #IslandOfResilience#FreedomShoes pic.twitter.com/3yxWnfbWLK— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 10, 2021
Hong Kong used to be one of the freest cities in the WORLD.
But in recent years, that has all changed.
The brutal Chinese government’s goal is to bring Hong Kong under its TOTAL control.
We must support Hongkongers and their struggle for freedom.#FreeHongKong #FreedomShoes pic.twitter.com/Zynek6NqVO
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 4, 2021
The genocidal Chinese government and the insecure tyrant behind it all
XI JINPING must not be allowed to host the upcoming Winter Olympics.Say NO to @Beijing2022!!#FreedomShoes#NoBeijing2022 pic.twitter.com/Q6DXtpoZqE
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 30, 2021
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
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News
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