Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom testified in front of a congressional committee this week and claimed that he has lost over $50 million dollars for speaking out against human rights violations in China.
Last Tuesday, Kanter Freedom spoke in front of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) to discuss how American businesses are complicit in the human rights abuses happening in China. Kanter Freedom, who was ousted from the NBA after speaking out against China, claims that his activism has cost him millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements.
“My career ended in a very brutal way,” said Kanter-Freedom. “According to my manager, I lost around 50 million dollars, with all the NBA contracts and endorsement deals that I could’ve signed.”
Kanter Freedom turned heads from NBA executives when he began wearing shoes on the court with phrases written on them that condemn China. Among these phrases were “Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people,” “free Uyghur,” and “freedom for all.” Kanter Freedom also wore Nike shoes that said “made with slave labor.”
In 2021, Kanter Freedom was punished by the NBA for wearing shoes that said “Free Tibet.” The former NBA player claimed that two players from the league spoke with him and told him to remove the shoes. Kanter Freedom refused and did not play at all during the game. In the same year, Kanter Freedom was condemned by the league for posting a Tweet that endorsed the liberation of Hong Kong.
Because of his harsh rhetoric against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China took the precaution of banning the broadcasting of all Celtics games in the country.
Kanter Freedom has been unapologetic about his mission to shed light on China’s human rights violations. He explained that his agent told him, “if you say another word about the Chinese government, then you never going to play basketball in this league. No team will sign you, and all the owners who look like they care about social justice in reality all care about money and business so you won’t be playing again.”
The NBA Players Association, which he is a member of, was silent in defending him.
“I couldn’t believe how much they were pressuring me,” Kanter Freedom explained in regard to the NBA Players Association. “I paid thousands of dollars to the players association every month to protect my rights against the NBA, but on this topic they were on NBA’s side.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has denied the claims that Kanter Freedom was ousted from the league because of his activism. Silver stated that he spoke to Kanter Freedom to “make it absolutely clear to him that it was completely within his right to speak out on issues that he was passionate about.” However, Silver has a history of statements showing he prioritizes the NBA’s profitability in China over criticizing the country’s human rights abuses.
“The political science major in me believes that engagement is better than isolation. That a so-called boycott of China, taking into account legitimate criticisms of the Chinese system, won’t further the agenda of those who seek to bring about global change," said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
