NBA Commissioner Adam Silver denied claims that his league has blackballed China critic and former Celtic Enes Kanter Freedom in a New York Times article published Thursday.
Freedom, currently unemployed, made headlines this season for wearing sneakers critical of the Chinese government while playing for Boston. Due to the NBA’s numerous and lucrative business ties to the communist government, fans and media grew suspicious when Kanter Freedom saw his playing time conspicuously slashed after donning the protest sneakers.
Free Uyghur sneakers worn by Enes Kanter Freedom (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Despite signing a significant deal with Boston after playing in 72 games and averaging over 24 minutes a night for Portland, Kanter Freedom barely played 11 minutes per game over 35 contests with the Celtics before being traded and released.
Freedom has not signed with a new squad since being released.
Despite the concerning circumstances surrounding his playing time and eventual release, Silver shot down any suggestion that Freedom was being excluded because of his political beliefs.
“We spoke directly about his activities this season,” Silver told the Times, “and I made it absolutely clear to him that it was completely within his right to speak out on issues that he was passionate about.”
Freedom disputed the commissioner’s account of their conversation, adding that it was the player’s union that had muzzled him.
“Instead of advocating on my behalf, I have encountered the union telling me I need to shut up and stop talking about the human rights violations in China,” Freedom told the New York Times.
Freedom added, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize why I got little playing time and was released. But it does take people with a conscience to speak out and say it’s not right.”
Silver, however, did not confine his comments regarding China to the situation regarding Enes Kanter Freedom. Instead, the commissioner aimed at critics he feels unfairly target his league for their business dealings with the world’s leading human rights abuser.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Silver pointed out that “virtually every major U.S. company” does business in China.
“Why is the NBA being singled out as the one company that should now boycott China?” Silver said.
Silver objected to comparisons between the NBA’s pull-out from Russia and suggestions the league should do the same with China by insisting that the United States government initiated a boycott of Russia.
“It’s very difficult for the league to practice foreign policy,” Silver explained.
However, as a private business, the NBA does not need the United States government to issue a boycott of China for the league to walk away from its dealings with the communist country.
Moreover, while it’s true that “virtually every major U.S. company” does business in China, among sports leagues, the NBA is far more wedded to China than any of their peers. Major League Baseball is attempting to further its business ties with China, but those dealings are nowhere near as numerous or lucrative as the NBA’s. The NFL is far more concerned with marketing their game to Mexico and Europe, and the NHL hasn’t yet found traction in Xi Jinping’s police state.
In addition, the NBA sought and in many ways secured a spot for itself as the premier American social justice league over the past two years. So why shouldn’t it draw increased scrutiny if the league that claims to champion human rights and justice makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year doing business with the world’s most notorious trampler of human rights and justice?
Freedom, a newly-minted U.S. citizen, last played an NBA game on February 8th.
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