NBA Star Enes Kanter has added “Freedom” to his name this week in celebration of taking American citizenship. Freedom has become one of the most outspoken players in the NBA .The Turkish born NBA star has been at the center of a controversy with Lebron James over the Los Angeles Lakers stars past support for communist China.
Enes Kanter has taken to his shoes to criticize Lebron James and Nike for staying silent on China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority. Despite the fact that James is outspoken on social issues in the United States such as the Black Lives Matter movement
In three minute video posted to Twitter last month Kanter questioned why Nike which supports causes like “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Asia Hate” has stayed silent on human rights abuses in China involving the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other minority groups.
Kanter has also taken his protest beyond his social media account– to his shoes and warn various pairs with the themes “Free Tibet”, “Free Uyghur”, and “Free China.” Another pair attacked Lebron James directly for his 2019 statements which appeared to support China’s policy of Uyghur repression.
That same year in at least two incidents’ individuals were removed from NBA games for carrying signs or other memorabilia in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protestors and China’s Uyghur minority.
The NBA player isn’t the only one who has taken notice of China’s treatment of its minority groups.
Earlier this year the United States government in line with several governments around the world labeled China’s treatment of its Uyghur population a genocide. China says it is only involved in repressing terrorism in what it see’s as a frontier province.
