The NBA Commissioner denied Enes Kanter Freedom’s claims that he was blacklisted by the league for speaking out against human rights abuses in China.
Adam Silver also called the basketball player’s comparison of his situation to that of Colin Kaepernick, who filed a lawsuit in November 2017 accusing the NFL’s ownership of colluding to not sign him after he protested police brutality, “completely unfounded and unfair.”
In a New York Times report, Freedom also claimed that the NBA union tried to silence his activism regarding the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China, claiming they wanted him to stop wearing shoes designed by political artist Badiucao at games.
Adam Silver (pictured) denied Enes Kanter Freedom’s claims that he was delisted by the league for speaking out against human rights abuses in China.
Kanter, who was born in Switzerland to Turkish parents, has been an outspoken critic of Turkey and China and officially changed his name to Freedom last year.
Silver told the Times: “We’ve been direct about his activities this season and I’ve made it very clear to him that he has every right to speak out on issues he’s passionate about.”
The commissioner added that Freedom did not quite correctly characterize the conversation between them, but did not go into details.
The league’s stance on China has not changed, Silver also said, asking, “Why is the NBA being singled out as the only company that should now boycott China?”
Silver said in 2020 that the NBA could lose up to $400 million when Chinese business partners cut ties following comments from Houston Rockets CEO Daryl More in support of Hong Kong’s democracy protesters, CNBC reported.
Speaking about the suspension of the NBA in Russia, Silver said that the move was “initiated” by the US government.
In a New York Times report, Freedom (pictured) also claimed that the NBA union tried to silence its activism regarding the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China.
Freedom told The New York Times, “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand why I got little playing time and was released.
“But it takes people with a conscience to speak up and say that this is wrong.”
Freedom is currently out of the league and has not been signed by any team since it was traded and cut in February, according to the Times.
Last month, Freedom said that President Joe Biden does not take human rights seriously and said the White House ignored his requests for meetings, fearing it would alienate authoritarian regimes around the world.
In a podcast released after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Freedom said the leaders don’t live up to the American ideals of democracy and freedom that he learned about growing up abroad.
He told the One Decision podcast, “Unfortunately, you know, I feel like when it comes to authoritarian regimes, sometimes they say: shut up… like Turkey.”
Last November, Freedom criticized Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James for his dealings with Nike and, by extension, with China, a country accused of persecuting the Uyghur minority and forcing citizens to be sent to slave labor camps.
Freedom told The New York Times, “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand why I had little playing time and got released.”
“Money over morals for the ‘King’,” he tweeted, referring to James’ nickname. “It’s sad and disgusting how these athletes pretend to care about social justice.
”They really ”shut up and drool” when Big Boss [Chinese flag emoji] says so,” continued Svoboda. “Did you find out about the slave labor that made your shoes, or is that not part of your research?”
Earlier in 2019, the Lakers star said he needed to do more research before commenting on alleged human rights abuses in China, where Nike has been doing business for decades.
Colin Kaepernick kneels during the playing of the national anthem to protest police brutality before an NFL football game in 2016.
In Turkey, Svoboda has been considered an enemy of the state since 2017, when he criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the “Hitler of our century.”
The country responded by revoking his passport, jailing his father for two years on terrorism charges, and using Interpol to try to arrange for Kanter Jr. to be arrested.
He previously told CNN: “When I came to America, it was so amazing to me because there is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, which I didn’t have. of those with Turkey.
“And freedom is the greatest thing a person can have. That’s why I wanted to make that word a part of me and carry it wherever I went.”