The ongoing saga of the NBA’s love affair with a repressive state took an interesting turn last month when Enes Kanter Freedom was cut from an NBA roster. Thus has been eliminated the only player in the league with the sand to complain about the Uyghur genocide and forced labor in clothing and shoe manufacture in China
Many other athletes share Enes Kanter Freedom’s convictions, but not his courage — which is why Beijing made an example of him. The Chinese regime might have the power to silence its critics at home. But for the NBA to help a totalitarian dictatorship reach into this country and punish one of its leading critics is a disgrace.
Enes Kanter Freedom Is Cut, and Chinese Media Gloat about PRC Influence on the NBA | National Review; Still awaiting comment from Antifa; crickets
The final straw might have been the television ad Freedom produced with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) calling out the corporate sponsors of the Beijing Olympics — which they correctly call the “Genocide Games” — including NBA sponsor Nike. “Stand for freedom. Defund the dictators,” Freedom declared. NBC refused to air the ad unless they removed the corporate logos, but Freedom said that defeated the purpose. “I wanted to air this ad on TV to raise awareness of China’s gross human rights abuses … [and] the hypocrisy of the US companies that are silent and enabling to CCP’s brutal behavior.”
"When he became a US citizen in November, he changed his last name from Kanter to Freedom. Now, for exercising his newfound freedoms, he might lose his basketball career. “I’m 29,” he told me. “I’m healthy. I can play another six years. So, hope that’s not the case.” But he adds, “If that is the reason that I am not going to be able to play basketball again, then you know what? Oh well. I can look back at least and say I did the right thing.”
"Many other athletes share Enes Kanter Freedom’s convictions, but not his courage — which is why Beijing made an example of him. The Chinese regime might have the power to silence its critics at home. But for the NBA to help a totalitarian dictatorship reach into this country and punish one of its leading critics is a disgrace.". . .
And it all goes on... Georgia isn’t in line with the MLB’s values. But Cuba and China are? | American Enterprise Institute - AEI