NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom believes he was ‘blacklisted’ from the league for criticizing China

Enes Kanter Freedom is out for revenge! The former NBA No. 3 draft pick met with Congress this Tuesday and explained why he has been blacklisted from the league ever since he wore shoes with underlining messages against China’s historical conflict with Tibetans and Uyghurs.

After his brave display during an official basketball match, China proceded to create a campaign against the player which eventually led to his team’s games to be banned in the Asian country.

This wasn’t the first time that the NBA’s political views clash with international diplomacy, as a franchise executive had tweeted his support to Hong Kong back in 2019, and triggered yet another ban on league broadcasts in China.

I tried to warn you @NBA!
Now you will get exposed in front of the whole world!!

Today is a BIG day!

Today, we are finally exposing the dirty relationship between the #NBA and #China in front of the U.S Congress and Senate.

Today, we are going to expose how an American company… pic.twitter.com/fl2z8g4Uke

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) July 11, 2023

Freedom, who was born in Turkey, was invited to a hearing on corporate complicity with Chinese rights abuses and he explained how he never had a problem with the NBA after speaking against Turkish issues, and keeps doing it to this day.

After 748 games in the league, everything changed the day he decided to speak his mind on the Asian nation.

“His parents called me out in front of everybody, and said, ‘How can you call yourself a human rights activist when your Muslim brothers and sisters are getting tortured and raped every day in concentration camps in China?’” he told Congress. “I was like, ‘I promise I’m gonna get back to you’.”

Just as fellow NBA players were exhibiting their political agendas with messages like “Black Lives Matter”, the 31-year-old thought it was perfectly fine to write out “Free Tibet” on his playing shoes during a game between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.

The athlete recalled how team managers threatened to ban him if he was to play with these shoes, but one message in particular stood out from the rest.

“He said every Celtics game is banned in China. It literally took them 24 minutes – first quarter 12 minutes, second quarter 12 minutes – to ban every Celtics game on television,” Freedom expressed at the hearing.

Enes Kanter eventually caved into the pressure and agreed not to wear the shoes again, but his NBA career had already changed forever

“They were pressuring me and my manager so much, I was like, ‘You know what, I promise: I’m never going to wear ‘Free Tibet’ shoes ever again,’” the big man claimed. “The next game, I wore ‘Free Uyghurs’ shoes.”

“One of my teammates walked up to me and said, ‘You know this is your last game in the NBA, right? You’re never gonna get any contract after this,'” Freedom recalled. “February came, I got released [by the Celtics], and it was over for me.”

The six-foot-ten center has not played a single game after this episode, and he’s dedicated himself to find justice through legal courts and human rights activism.

Another NBA star who learned from this experience was Lakers foward LeBron James, who at some point referred to China’s conflict with Hong Kong, but later decided to avoid any criticism of the Asian country.

“I won’t talk about it again,” the player said back in 2019. “I’d be cheating my teammates by continuing to harp on something that won’t benefit us. We’re trying to win a championship.”