The NBA has decided to bend the knee to the “woke” mob.
And Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is the poster child for that surrender.
But an NBA player who called out James was threatened to stop doing one thing.
Turkish-born Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom—he recently changed his surname after becoming an American citizen—has been boldly speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party.
Freedom has railed against human rights abuses in the country while other players actively repeat CCP propaganda.
One of Freedom’s main targets has been LeBron James, who notably chastised former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey for expressing support for pro-freedom protesters in Hong Kong.
Freedom wore shoes blasting James and the CCP, and as a result, Boston Celtics games have been blacked out in China.
Money over Morals for the “King” 👑
Sad & disgusting how these athletes pretend they care about social justice
They really do “shut up & dribble” when Big Boss 🇨🇳 says so
Did you educate yourself about the slave labor that made your shoes or is that not part of your research? pic.twitter.com/YUA8rGYeoZ
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) November 18, 2021
The NBA was none too happy about it.
According to Freedom, NBA representatives pressured him to take off his shoes.
Freedom said in an interview with Megyn Kelly:
“There [were] two gentlemen came from the NBA [who] said, ‘Take those shoes off.’ I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘Yep, take those shoes off.’ I was like, ‘I’m not taking the shoes off.’ They’re like, ‘Listen, we are begging you to take those shoes off.’ And I asked him, ‘Am I breaking any rules?’ They said, ‘No.’ … And after that I was like, ‘Go tell your boss, I don’t care if I get banned or fined. I’m not taking the shoes off.’ You know? And that game, I played zero minutes.”
Freedom has seen a sharp decline in minutes—the lowest in his career—since speaking out against James and the CCP.
The NBA and Nike rely heavily on the Chinese market, so any disruption puts a dent in their wallets.
Freedom is bad for business, so these international organizations want to shut him up.
During his interview with Kelly, he added:
“The First Amendment is the greatest amendment, freedom of speech. And obviously, you know, I mean, people should be very blessed because, just because of tweets, or just because of this, the speeches that you talk, you’re not going to be put in jails.”
Meanwhile, American leftists believe that the First Amendment is “problematic.”
Only privileged leftists would want to get rid of free speech.
But people who have actually lived under oppressive regimes know how insane that is.