Enes Kanter puts his foot (shoe) down

[Achilles McCool]

I searched the forums to see if this was being discussed, and didn’t find a thread, so let’s discuss:

Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter, from Turkey, has been making headlines in the NBA and China, for his stance on the Uyghur genocide in Tibet and Taiwanese sovereignty, along with the accusations that Nike (among others) use slave labor.

Enes has gone as far as challenging Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Phil Knight (Nike) to fly with him to China to “see for themselves”.

I, for one, applaud his stance and think his choice of shoes (with protest messages written on them) are great to get the west to acknowledge the sins of China.

Great little story coming out from Enes this week about how the NBA begged him not to wear the shoes, only for Enes to ask if he was breaking any rules, which the basketball execs answered “no” but stated that they (the league) were going to lose money due to his “protest”! Sure enough, China has decided not to broadcast any Celtics games.

Enes said, “When it comes to China, Nike remains silent. You do not address police brutality in China. You do not speak about discrimination about the LGBTQ community. You do not say a word about the oppression of minorities in China. You are scared to speak up. Who makes your shoes in China? Do you even know? There are so many forced labor factories in China. For instance, Uyghur forced labor. A modern day slavery, and it’s happening right now in China.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadli...ter-free-tibet-boston-celtics-1234859665/amp/

Also, his relationship with Erdogan in Turkey is on a knifes-edge:
“ Celtics player Enes Kanter has long been critical of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for his human rights violations.

Kanter called the President of Turkey the “Hitler of our country,” after Erdogan was accused of carrying out several terror attacks and overthrowing democracy in Kanter’s home country.”
https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest...esident-erdogan-suing-him-remains-unfazed?amp

 

[kouroux]

You can hate or like Enes but one thing is sure, he's been consistent with his views and ideas and that deserves respect. The NBA is about money though, they're never gonna risk going the interest of their cash flows. Every single time the NBA has tried to take stance against certain issues (police brutality for instance) it's only because it threatened their image (their money).

 

[Achilles McCool]

You can hate or like Enes but one thing is sure, he's been consistent with his views and ideas and that deserves respect. The NBA is about money though, they're never gonna risk going the interest of their cash flows. Every single time the NBA has tried to take stance against certain issues (police brutality for instance) it's only because it threatened their image (their money).

Completely agree and even though I’m not a Celtics fan or Kanter fan (basketball related), I give him huge respect!

 

[Deery]

He’s been reduced to 6 minutes a game at the Celtics, not be long before he’s sold I reckon.

 

[Desert Eagle]

His stance is admirable. Great that he points out the hypocrisy and shows that the number one priority of these organizations and people is money.

 

[WeePat]

I've been following him on Instagram for years. He's great and I respect him immensely.

 

[UweBein]

Much more credible than Özil.
More power to him.

 

[Achilles McCool]

He’s been reduced to 6 minutes a game at the Celtics, not be long before he’s sold I reckon.

But which team will take him, given the fact that their team would then become enemy #1 in China and get blacked-out on National Chinese media?

 

[Achilles McCool]

His stance is admirable. Great that he points out the hypocrisy and shows that the number one priority of these organizations and people is money.

Money rules the world, but at some point you’d think that Nike sponsored players, especially Jordan, who is retired, would say, “alright, I’ve made enough money, now I should take a stand too”

 

[Achilles McCool]

I've been following him on Instagram for years. He's great and I respect him immensely.

Has he always been this outspoken?

 

[HTG]

Money rules the world, but at some point you’d think that Nike sponsored players, especially Jordan, who is retired, would say, “alright, I’ve made enough money, now I should take a stand too”

It’s always those with the most money who have the least money to share.

 

[Achilles McCool]

It’s always those with the most money who have the least money to share.

I like that saying. Spot on!

 

[Desert Eagle]

Money rules the world, but at some point you’d think that Nike sponsored players, especially Jordan, who is retired, would say, “alright, I’ve made enough money, now I should take a stand too”

Humans rule the world , unfortunately we've become so caught up in money and the chasing of it we are killing our planet and morality in the pursuit.

 

[Deery]

But which team will take him, given the fact that their team would then become enemy #1 in China and get blacked-out on National Chinese media?

Don’t know, good point. Maybe they’ll end his contract or something instead.

 

[Achilles McCool]

Humans rule the world , unfortunately we've become so caught up in money and the chasing of it we are killing our planet and morality in the pursuit.

Ok, money rules humans, and humans rule the world, therefore money rules the world