“Brutal Dictator of China, Xi Jinping, I Have a Message for You” Celtics player Enes Kanter isn’t afraid to use his platform for human rights awareness

Celtics great man Enes Kanter has never been afraid to speak his mind as he stands up for human rights. On Thursday, a video surfaced in which he spoke of Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and his brutal treatment of Tibet. The newly formed People’s Republic of China annexed Tibet in 1950.

Free Tibet

Kanter wears a shirt with the Dalai Lama on it and says:

China’s brutal dictator Xi Jinping, I have a message for you and your henchmen: Free Tibet, Free Tibet, Free Tibet.

After learning all of this, I cannot remain silent. I am alongside my Tibetan brothers and sisters, I support their cause for freedom.

After the release of this video, all Celtics games were withdrawn by the Chinese government. They even prevented the country from broadcasting the teams’ matches via social networks. But that’s the exact reason Kanter stands up against this kind of government control, oppression and abuse of freedoms.

China responds

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke about these comments:

Kanter was looking for influence, trying to draw attention to issues related to Tibet. His erroneous words are not worth refuting. Tibet is part of China.

Kanter is no stranger to backlash for voicing his opinion on human injustice. Originally from Turkey, Kanter criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government’s authoritarian rule. Following his comments, Turkey revoked his passport so that he could not return home to see his family. He has also received death threats and has even been the subject of an arrest warrant.

Kanter stands with the people of Turkey

Kanter had this to say about the situation:

“Turkey cannot be left to its own fate in the hands of a mad dictator, who uses his public platform as a well-known NBA player to defend the interests of Turks who cannot speak for themselves for fear of being arrested.

Turkish prosecutors want Knicks’ Enes Kanter in jail

The Kanters family also suffered and became the target of the Turkish government, with his father being dismissed from university as a professor. His teams’ matches have also been canceled. He has no family in China, so this time his human rights advocacy should not directly affect his family or homeland.

Enes Kanter can criticize Turkey, possibly because Turks are not spending enough on NBA rights and merchandise. But China is banned.

– Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) October 8, 2019

Don’t Di $$ China

In 2019, former Rockets general manager and current Sixers general manager Daryl Morey made headlines for a tweet he made about the unrest in Hong Kong. This tweet caused all kinds of emotions and reactions.

The image Morey tweeted read the following:

Fight for freedom, stand in solidarity with Hong Kong.

Daryl Moreys tweets cost NBA $ 150-200 million

Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta was quick to tweet that his Rockets team were NOT a political organization. But the damage was already done. The NBA and Rockets backed Morey, asserting his right to free speech. This led to China wanting Morey sacked to boycott the league at home, and a huge loss of revenue estimated to be at least $ 400 million.

LeBron tried to clean it up, but didn’t help the situation much. His comments have just opened the league to more criticism from both sides.

My team and this league have just gone through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I don’t believe nobody stopped and thought about what would happen. I could have waited a week to send it.

– LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019

The NBA and China are still trying to mend the barriers of the Daryl Morey incident in 2019, and now they have a new firestorm via Enes Human Rights Kanter denouncing the dictator’s brutality in Tibet. You must be wondering how NBA commissioner Adam Silver will handle this one regarding China.

It’s safe to say that Enes Kanter won’t be welcome in China or Turkey for the foreseeable future.