“Black athletes are telling me to call out LeBron James and Michael Jordan!”: Enes Kanter Freedom tries to defend his stand against the Lakers star and Nike

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom says he is not the only one tired of the hypocrisies of LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Tries to clear the air after Fox News interview. 

Enes Kanter is not shying away from calling out NBA greats in his fight against China and its slave labor. He has been extremely critical of LeBron James for endorsing Nike and earning millions through Chinese sweatshops.

The 29-year old center is only averaging 4.4 points, and 5.5 rebounds a game this season. In addition, he has seen a huge cut in his playing time after being traded to the Boston Celtics. Prior to the first matchup with LA Lakers last month, he made a scathing post against LeBron James.

However, when the two met in the hallway during the game he went right past him without saying anything. This earned him quite a lot of interviews on Fox News and clearly, he has substituted gym time for TV time. His new target is now the GOAT himself Michael Jordan.

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Enes Kanter says his fight against Nike and LeBron James has never been about black or white athletes

In an interview with Ethan Thomas, he opened up about the US citizenship he recently acquired, the black lives matter movement, and LeBron James. He denied all racism allegations that he is currently facing due to the interview with Tucker Carlson.

His conversation with Fox News host Tucker Carlson went viral where he indirectly told black athletes to “shut up and dribble”. For someone who comes from a dictatorial nation himself, Kanter clearly fails to see why criticism is important in a democracy. As a result, he faced heavy backlash on Twitter after his appearance on the show.

“It was never about a color. I even had a conversation with many of my teammates, and a thing people don’t understand is that many of the Black athletes in the league are telling me to call out these people and [those] people.

Not many people know that. They are the ones telling me to call out the hypocrisies of LeBron James, the hypocrisies of Michael Jordan. But they are the ones actually sending me talking points about you can’t say this, you can’t say that.”

Unlike LeBron James, Michael Jordan never publicly criticizes a particular section of Americans. Back in the 90s he famously said “conservatives buy shoes too”. If MJ should be called out for hypocrisy it should be for this not the claims that Kanter is making.

Almost every apparel/sports brand is linked to the POC in some way. Attacking LeBron James, MJ, and Nike, in particular, will not yield anything. The jersey that Kanter wears, even the phone he uses to criticize players are made in China.

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