Dharamshala, 22nd October: Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics is facing backlash in China after labeling President Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator.” He also expressed support for the Free Tibet movement in a video broadcast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Kanter stated in the video that his message for the Chinese government is to free Tibet, and Tibet belongs to Tibetans. His name has since been removed from the Chinese social media platform Weibo, and Celtics game streaming has apparently been canceled.
Kanter spoke into the camera for about three minutes in the video on Wednesday, decrying what he called a “cultural genocide” in Tibet. Kanter debuted shoes with the phrase “Free Tibet” drawn by Badiucao, a Chinese dissident cartoonist based in Australia, on the same day as his video. He was supposed to wear them in his game against the New York Knicks, but he didn’t show up. It’s unclear if the decision not to play Kanter had anything to do with his political stance.
According to the BBC, Badiucao stated that Kanter contacted him weeks ago about cooperating on this project. Kanter has a very clear understanding that he wants to fight for the Tibetan community, according to the cartoonist, and it’s a disappointment that he didn’t get a single minute on the court.
The tweet, which was sent by Daryl Morey, who now works for the Philadelphia 76ers, was swiftly deleted, but not before causing a stir in China. Sponsorships in the country were severed, and the state-run broadcaster ceased airing games, resulting in financial repercussions that the league said cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. The NBA received a barrage of criticism from within the United States as a result of this occurrence. Many lawmakers from all political parties complained that the league was too obedient to an authoritarian regime.
There have been a few indicators that relations between the NBA and the Chinese government are thawing since Morey’s statement. Tencent resumed N.B.A. broadcasts shortly after the initial outrage over Morey’s post died down. The NBA and the Celtics’ representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kanter did not reply to text messages sent to him.
Tencent, the Chinese internet company that has contracted with the NBA to webcast its games in the country, had listed recent Celtics games as unavailable for replay by Thursday. Tencent Sports’ website also stated that future Celtics games will not be live-streamed. Tencent Sports hasn’t been live streaming any 76ers games, either. Morey was hired as the team’s head of basketball operations last year.
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