But social media posts by Kanter before the game wound up being much more consequential. PREVIOUSLY on Wednesday: Enes Kanter and the NBA’s Boston Celtics opened ESPN’s regular-season schedule with a dramatic, double-overtime game won by the New York Knicks. A modern day slavery, and it’s happening right now in China.”ĭear the modern day SLAVERY, now!!! #HypocriteNike #EndUyghurForcedLabor /tvX2k3wE4X Who makes your shoes in China? Do you even know? There are so many forced labor factories in China. You do not say a word about the oppression of minorities in China. You do not speak about discrimination about the LGBTQ community. You do not address police brutality in China.
Kanter also posted a video today in which he says, “When it comes to China, Nike remains silent. We export American basketball to China, and I would say what comes with it is American culture as well.” According to Silver, “basketball, sports, culture, are an opportunity to bring people together.” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in April described the league’s relationship with the Middle Kingdom as “complicated.” He said he was “a believer in soft power,” and that “ultimately we’re an export business. ESPN parent Disney, which has invested billions in NBA rights, also depends on China as a key market for motion pictures and theme parks, making it reluctant to ever tip its hand.
Because so much money flows in from the nation - not just in terms of broadcast fees and commercials, but in terms of shoe and clothing sales - leading players like LeBron James struggled over whether to publicly support Morey, and faced blowback for not doing so. The 2019 Morey episode showed the many knock-on effects of anyone speaking out against China. And I think in my experience with the Celtics and the NBA, that’s the way it’s been and that’s the way it’ll continue to be.” It is unclear what impact Kanter’s continuing criticism may have.īoston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens came out in support of Kanter’s stance on Friday saying, “My conversation with Enes was real short and sweet, and that is we’re always going to support any of our players and their right to freedom of speech and expression. It was over a year before China would again allow league games on state TV. In 2019, a single tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong got the entire league nixed from national broadcaster CCTV.
And Kanter’s comments today about Nike vis a vis Uighers likely won’t help. There is no indication those games have been restored in what is inarguably the NBA’s most important overseas market. Whatever the case, Kanter’s protest got the Celtics banned from streaming services in China last week. Nike told the post of the Uigher report last year that “we respect human rights in our extended value chain, and always strive to conduct business ethically and responsibly.” A spokeswoman added that its suppliers are “strictly prohibited from using any type of prison, forced, bonded or indentured labor.” In the months since, there have been reports that suppliers for Nike and other U.S.-based companies have begun shunning Uigher labor.
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