Celtics’ Enes Kanter slams China, Nike, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Phil Knight over ‘slave labor’

After doubling down on accusations of forced labor against the Chinese government and Nike, outspoken Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter is now offering to tour the country’s ‘slave labor camps’ with LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and company co-founder Phil Knight.

‘To the owner of @Nike, Phil Knight,’ Kanter tweeted Tuesday. ‘How about I book plane tickets for us and let’s fly to China together. We can try to visit these SLAVE labor camps and you can see it with your own eyes.’

Using their twitter handles, Kanter added that James and Jordan — two of Nike’s most recognized spokespeople — are ‘welcome to come too.’

Kanter ended the post with the hashtag: #EndUyghurForcedLabor.

Uighurs are among several ethnic minorities that have been targeted by Beijing. 

The US State Department estimates that, since 2017, as many as two million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have been detained in internment camps in China. The country has denied human rights violations and claims the camps are intended to prevent terrorism among the Uighurs, who are predominantly muslim.

Nike, the NBA’s official apparel provider, is among several western brands that have drawn criticism from Beijing for expressing concerns about reports of forced labor in cotton production in the northwest province of Xinjiang. 

In a previous statement, the company admitted that it does not handle the sourcing of its cotton in the county ‘directly.’

‘While Nike does not directly source cotton, or other raw materials, traceability at the raw materials level is an area of ongoing focus,’ read the Nike statement. ‘We are working closely with our suppliers, industry associations, brands and other stakeholders to pilot traceability approaches and map material sources so we can have confidence the materials in our products are responsibly produced.’

Tuesday’s tweet follows several similar posts by Kanter targeting Chinese president Xi Jinping.    

The 29-year-old Kanter has become an outspoken human rights advocate in recent years and is currently estranged from his native Turkey and his family in the country after criticizing president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the ‘Hitler of our century.’

Neither the Los Angeles Lakers, James’s team, nor the Charlotte Hornets, the club owned by Jordan, immediately responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

Similarly, spokespeople for the Chinese Embassy in New York, Nike, the NBA, and the Celtics also did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s emails regarding Kanter’s latest Twitter post.

Celtics coach Ime Udoka was asked about Kanter’s statements on China last week, but said he has not addressed them with the team. Regardless, Udoka said Kanter is free to express himself. 

‘We know it’s out there,’ Udoka said before Boston’s home opener on Friday. ‘He is very passionate about a lot of things and he has the freedom to say what he wants. That’s above my department.’

Celtics games are already being blacked out in the country after Kanter slammed Xi as a ‘brutal dictator’ in a previous social media video about China’s treatment of Tibet. Furthermore, Kanter’s name appeared to be blocked on the popular Weibo messaging platform in the communist nation after his initial tweet on the subject on Thursday.

‘I’m here to add my voice and speak out about what is happening in Tibet,’ Kanter said in the video he posted on Twitter last Thursday. ‘Under the Chinese government’s brutal rule, Tibetan people’s basic rights and freedoms are non-existent.

‘They are not allowed to study and learn their language and culture freely. They are not allowed to travel freely. They are not allowed to access information freely. The Tibetan people are not even allowed to worship freely.’

Kanter added another video Monday, calling out Nike specifically.

‘Nike remains vocal about injustice here in America, but when it comes to China, Nike remains silent,’ Kanter said.

‘You do not address police brutality in China, you do not speak about discrimination against the LGBTQ community, you do not say a word about the oppression of minorities in China, you are scared to speak up.’

Kanter has also expressed himself through fashion, wearing custom-made sneakers designed by anti-Beijing artist Baidiucao. The various shoes have included slogans such as ‘Free Tibet,’ ‘Free China,’ ‘Hypocrite Nike,’ and ‘Slave Labor.’

One pair even depicted Xi as Winnie the Pooh — a comparison that bloggers have used to disparage the Chinese President.

Some have posited that Kanter was benched in the Celtics’ season opener in retaliation for his comments.

Senator Tom Cotton (Republican, Arkansas), for one, suggested on Twitter that Kanter was being punished for speaking out against China. 

‘The NBA allows its players to kneel during the national anthem, but punishes players for speaking out against human rights violations in China,’ Cotton tweeted. ‘Pathetic, but not surprising.’

In response to DailyMail.com’s request for further comment, a Cotton spokeswoman referenced a specific passage in a Washington Post article on the subject. 

‘Kanter was not given the chance,’ read the article by Eva Dou and Lyric Li. ‘Coaches did not send him onto the court during Wednesday’s double-overtime contest.’

Celtics spokespeople did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

Kanter has logged five total minutes this season, but is one of four Celtics players at his position. There has not been any indication that he was benched in retaliation for his comments. 

Kanter’s remarks, and the backlash from China, come two years after a similar PR crisis unfolded for the NBA.

In October of 2019, then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s comments in support of the democracy movement in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong prompted state broadcaster CCTV to cease broadcasting NBA games and e-commerce vendors to remove listings for Rockets merchandise.

State media, including CCTV, criticized Morey for his tweet, which was labelled an example of Western interference in a bid to foment unrest and stir up anti-China sentiment, while Chinese partners severed or suspended ties with the NBA.

Anti-NBA protests followed in both mainland China, where fans took aim at LeBron James, and among Hong Kong protesters.

In the US, Chinese-American fans began wearing pro-Hong Kong apparel to preseason games while protesting the regime in Beijing. Similarly, the anti-Beijing protestors in Hong Kong also took aim at James, using his image in memes and burning his jersey.

In the end, the NBA lost about $400 million in Chinese business, according to league commissioner Adam Silver, and faced criticism in the US for its perceived kowtowing to the communist regime.

Morey was never punished by the NBA. 

China’s concern over criticism from athletes isn’t limited to just basketball players.  

In 2019, soccer star Mesut Ozil as removed from Konami’s eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2020 computer game in China over his comments about the country’s treatment of its Uighur Muslims. 

Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin playing for Arsenal at the time, posted messages of social media at the time calling minority Uighurs ‘warriors who resist persecution’ and criticized both China’s crackdown and the silence of Muslims in response.

China’s foreign ministry said Ozil was ‘deceived by fake news’ as social media platforms in the country such as Weibo were flooded with angry messages.

Arsenal was quick to distance itself from Ozil’s comments, saying the club ‘always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics’.

Ozil, who now plays in Turkey, did get support from former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who defended his right to express his opinion.