Turkish NBA player appears to rip Lebron James with list of brutal commie realities

Professional basketball player Enes Kanter fired off a series of tweets culminating in a stark reality check about civil liberties.

The Boston Celtics player did not name any names in his comments Monday but many speculated that he was reacting to controversial remarks by NBA star Lebron James on the NBA-China issue.

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers star ignited a firestorm when he called out Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for not being “educated” on the situation after his since-deleted tweet in support of protesters in Hong Kong. Morey was only “thinking about himself,” James told reporters Monday, referring to the tweet that said: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”

Morey soon deleted his tweet and offered an apology but the damage was done as China rebuked the remarks and retaliated by canceling their NBA sponsorships and threatened to stop airing NBA games. The NBA — already a controversial organization with its politically outspoken players — issued a statement seeking to smooth over the rift created by Morey after his tweet but only ended up sparking backlash from U.S. lawmakers, journalists, and social media users.

James seemed to stoke the fire again with his remarks Monday, saying Morey was “misinformed” and that sometimes “you have to think through things that may cause harm not only for yourself but for the majority of people.”

His attempt to clarify with subsequent tweets only made things worse and Kanter soon appeared to step in and take the Lakers-Celtics rivalry to a new level.

“Wow dude!’ he tweeted, without any other context.

He followed with “SMH” and a sick emoji in more tweets, again not referencing anyone in particular.

Kanter, the 27-year-old Turkish player born in Switzerland, then relayed his own personal experiences with a list of difficulties his home country’s totalitarian policies have created.

According to The Washington Post:

The Boston Celtics forward has famously been at odds with the authoritarian regime in his home country of Turkey — to the point of apparent personal peril — and his tweets were interpreted by many as reactions to James.

That suspicion only grew when Kanter posted a list of setbacks suffered since he earned the enmity of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by becoming a follower of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric and prominent critic of Erdogan who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States. The Turkish government has described Gulen as the leader of a cult and a terrorist group who was behind a failed coup attempt in 2016, and it has reportedly issued a warrant for the arrest of Kanter, who has become fearful of traveling outside of the U.S.

 

“FREEDOM IS NOT FREE,” Kanter concluded.

“How can I stay silent?” he asked in an opinion piece published Tuesday in the Boston Globe.

“Constant pressure by Turkish consulates across the United States, as well as pervasive and continual harassment by the government in Turkey, has so far failed to stifle my dissent. As they increase the pressure, I raise my voice. I won’t be deterred. They’re wasting their time,” he wrote.

Kanter also addressed the many blessings he has received from living in the U.S., again striking a clear contrast from the freedom James seemed to forget in his defense of China.

“I am immensely blessed to be in America. This country has given me so much since I came here from Turkey as a teenager, and I feel obliged to give back to the community,” he wrote. “I would languish in prison if I were in Turkey. Being apart from my family and friends has taken an enormous toll on me. But nothing good comes easy.”

While James earned scorn and backlash for his remarks on Morey’s views, Kanter was showered with praise for his courage and vocal stand.

 

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