It was already sketchy that Enes Kanter Freedom would receive another chance to play in the NBA, but now it’s pretty much guaranteed he will forever be on the outside looking in with his stance against the league.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the former NBA player blasted the NBA on Wednesday for being “run by the Chinese dictatorship.”
“The corrupt NBA has finally gotten exposed and this is the evidence of how [a] 100% American made company is run by the Chinese dictatorship,” Freedom said. “And wake up, America. This is the league that you’ve been supporting and watching. Enough is enough and this is unacceptable. They are mad because finally someone from the inside, I played 11 years in this league, has finally exposed them and I’m saying it again, enough is enough.”
Freedom, a center who averaged 11.2 points per game over an 11-year career spent with five NBA teams, spoke out against the Chinese Communist Party and found himself playing less and getting traded to the Houston Rockets. He would soon be waived.
Carlson played a recording of the general counsel of the National Basketball Players Association talking to Freedom about “Free Tibet” shoes Freedom wore while playing with the Boston Celtics.
“I got off the phone with the general counsel of the NBA and he wants to now have a conversation about, their concern right now is not so much what you are saying off the court, but what it is you are saying on the court when you step onto the court,” Ron Klempner said.
“China is taking a very aggressive stance, which is, ‘You want to [bleep] with us, you are out,’ right?” Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry said in a second recording played by Carlson. “Which is — I get it. It’s nothing … it’s business. So, their view is you wanna be in our country and do things, if you want to complain about us, you’re not allowed. What happens for the NBA is the NBA is in a box.”
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“They will care about social justice until it affects their money and business. The NBA pretends to care about social justice in America. But when that affects their business, they’re silent,” Freedom said. “Any player that goes out and says anything about it, they’re going to do anything to silence you. I’m 30 years old and they’re pushing me to retire at the age of 30 and I am not retiring. I’m going to fight until I can get back into that league again and keep exposing them.”
