Enes Kanter is an NBA basketball player, most recently for the Boston Celtics. He was drafted Number 3 in the 2011 NBA Draft. Although not an All Star, he has had a very productive career. In April of this year, he set a Portland Trail Blazers record with 30 rebounds in a single game. His career averages are 11.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in 22 minutes a game. His lowest minutes a game in his career was 13.2, his rookie year.
Kanter was born in Switzerland of Turkish descent. Up until recently Kanter has held a Turkish passport, but in January of 2019 the Turkish government put a warrant out for his arrest, purportedly for being affiliated with of a terrorist group, after he criticized Turkish President Erdogan.
On October 20 of this year, the day the Boston Celtics had their first game of the NBA season, Kanter tweeted the following, “Dear Brutal Dictator XI JINPING and the Chinese Government, Tibet belongs to the Tibetan people!”
The same day, in another tweet, he added, “More than 150 Tibetan people have burned themselves alive!! — hoping that such an act would raise more awareness about Tibet. I stand with my Tibetan brothers and sisters, and I support their calls for Freedom.”
Two days later, Kanter moved from the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of Tibetans to their treatment of the Muslim minority Uyghurs. Kanter is a practicing Muslim.
Heartless Dictator of China, XI JINPING and the Communist Party of China. I am calling you out in front of the whole world. Close down the SLAVE labor camps and free the UYGHUR people! Stop the GENOCIDE, now! #FreeUyghurs
Kanter also stated the following in an attached video. “I’m talking about you, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Saudi King Salman, United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, It’s shameful and sad how you’ve decided to prioritize money and business with China over human rights. You call yourselves Muslims, but you are just using that for show. You simply do not care about people…And this goes out to fellow Muslim athletes as well. Why are you staying silent? Mohammed Salah, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Amir Khan … Say something. Do something. Speak up. Your silence, your inaction is complicit.”
Most recently, on October 26, Kanter specifically directed a tweet at the president of Nike, Phil Knight, and current greatest NBA player Lebron James and all-time great, Michael Jordan.
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.
@King James [Lebron James]
@Jumpman23 [Michael Jordan]
you guys are welcome to come too. #EndUyghurForcedLabor
Along with the tweet Kanter included a picture of a pair of shoes he wore during a game. The shoes had the slogans “Nike Hypocrite” and “Made with slave labor” written on the side.
You can read Kanter’s tweets here. Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) / Twitter
The reaction of the Chinese Communist Party was utterly predictable. First, Kanter was denounced, and then everything associated with Enes Kanter was scrubbed from the internet accessible to the Chinese people. Following the favored practice of dictatorships the world over and throughout history, he was “disappeared,” at least as much as possible. In conjunction with the punishment meted out on Kanter, the Boston Celtics’ games are no longer being shown in China. The rest of the NBA was spared, at least for now.
What about support from other NBA players? Former NBA player Andrew Bogut of Australia has come out strongly in support of Kanter in a tweet.
I support someone speaking out that can lose A LOT.
Regardless of if I agree or disagree. Waiting for other players/coaches/gms to make comments in support of Enes and #Equality.
The tweet was followed with an emoji of three crickets.
Who else has come out to support Kanter? That’s hard to say. In the immediate aftermath of the first tweet Celtics President and former coach Brad Stevens said he supports Kanter’s right to free speech, as did the Celtics current coach, Ime Udoka. Interestingly enough, after averaging 11.2 points and 11.0 rebounds in 24.4 minutes a game in 72 games last year, and pulling down 30 rebounds in a single game, the Celtics have only played Kanter in one of their five regular season games this year, for a total five minutes. Message sent. And I’m sure that message sent to Kanter is not missed by other NBA players, the rest of the world that is paying attention, and to the Dictator XI and the Chinese Communist Party.
This is how Enes Kanter has humiliated America, and this goes way beyond the business that is the NBA. We can’t say Enes Kanter is wrong because we know he’s right. We can’t say he’s right, because we’re not willing to act on that admission and accept the consequences. We remain silent. Our silent acquiescence to the demands of a dictator is our ultimate humiliation.