NBA player and Oklahoma City Thunder big man Enes Kanter on Saturday blasted Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.
While appearing as a guest on ESPN’s “First Take,” with Stephen A Smith, Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim, Kanter called the four-time NBA MVP “soft.” The 23-year old also took aim at some other aspects of his game before going after James in particular.,
The 27-year old was asked about the best basketball players he has ever encountered and said: ‘I think my all time favorite to watch is LeBron because I don’t see him doing anything.’ He continued by saying that while playing against him seemed easy for them, when they watched him play it wasn’t so much fun.”,
‘LeBron is soft,’
Enes Kanter Freedom is a basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He says that LeBron James is a top player in the NBA and he thinks that LeBron James is one of the best players to ever play in the NBA.
Kanter, Enes For the last several weeks, Freedom has been one of the hottest names in the NBA. The Turkish-American athlete has been a vocal critic of China’s leadership, asking for more freedom in the Asian nation.
He’s used his position to criticize Michael Jordan, Joe Tsai, and LeBron James, to mention a few high-profile figures. The King has been Freedom’s favorite victim, speaking with major media outlets about LeBron’s silence on China and making harsh accusations against the four-time NBA champion.
Freedom recently spoke with Ethan Thomas of Basketball News about his thoughts on the China issue and what he anticipated from a player of LeBron James’ stature and power. He said it was upsetting that LeBron didn’t speak out in favor of former Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey after the latter backed the Taiwan protesters on Twitter.
Etan Thomas (Ethan Thomas): I’d want to ask you whether you’d be interested in collaborating with LeBron James to achieve a shared objective. Because I believe that is your overarching purpose, that you want him to use his voice and platform in the same way that Craig Hodges wanted Michael Jordan to use his voice and platform. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
“Let me just start with this, because obviously LeBron has the largest platform of us all,” Enes Kanter says. When Daryl Morey tweeted something against [China] two years ago, he couldn’t say anything, and that broke my heart. Obviously, that crushed my heart, but beyond that, I have no personal animosity against LeBron. I do believe he is one of the top players in the game’s history. Maybe in the top three. I’d place him in my top three because he’s a monster on the court. And it’s not just about LeBron, but about everyone who stands to benefit from it. So, the resources are there, and people are aware of what’s going on, and I believe that before these sportsmen, it might be Cristiano Ronaldo or someone else. They should examine what sort of corporations they’re contracting with before putting their name on a piece of paper, and Nike is undoubtedly the NBA’s largest sponsor.
“I knew a little bit when I started researching, but when I learned more about the slave workers, sweat shops, and how Nike is essentially exploiting modern-day slavery in China, I couldn’t believe it. First and foremost, I felt embarrassed to have worn Nike for the last [number of] years. I felt thinking, “I have to bring a light,” even if Nike is the NBA’s largest sponsor. I had to speak up for what is right. Because I spoke with a number of concentration camp survivors and learned personally from them how these slave workers were handled. When I see these players — and I don’t want to imply that they are unconcerned about what’s going on — I can’t help but think that they are earning millions, if not billions, of dollars from these sweatshops, and it breaks my heart. So, I believe that before signing a piece of paper, all of these young athletes should do some investigation into what’s going on since it may influence a large number of people.”
Kanter also spoke about whether or not he wants to work with LeBron James. He made it plain that he is not pursuing anybody. That’s how he thinks he can get people’s attention and eventually sit down with LeBron or anybody else who wants to support his cause.
Etan Thomas (Ethan Thomas): So I agree with you, and I completely understand. But let’s return to LeBron because he’s the one who gets a lot of your attention when it comes to calling out [players]. What is the ultimate goal? Do you want to collaborate with him?
“The eventual aim should certainly be to sit down and work with him and just understand what’s going on,” Enes Kanter says. The key purpose, in my opinion, should not be to call him out as a troll or anything like that, but rather to figure out how to find answers. Many of the players I shared the floor with and played against thanked me for calling LeBron out over the following four to five games after I called him out. Many of his former teammates approached me and expressed gratitude, since we all know LeBron’s only concern is his public image. That’s not what I’m saying; his ex-teammates stated just that. When they stated that, I didn’t say anything. Okay, I just stated.
“However, my major aim is to sit down and have a dialogue with him so that I can either educate him or he can educate me about what’s going on over there.” What can we do to make these corporations answerable? Because firms like Nike support Black Lives Matter in America, No Asian Hate, the Latino community, and the LGBTQ community. However, when it comes to China, they are clearly generating billions of dollars by remaining silent, and they are essentially exploiting modern slavery there.
“So, it hurts my heart, and I’m not sure what I can do about it.” LeBron James isn’t the only one. ‘No, LeBron isn’t the only one,’ I recall telling my teammates. I’m going to speak about a lot of other athletes, but I’m simply not through with my study yet. This isn’t about race or a particular player; I’m not against anybody. I’m against those who aren’t well-educated enough to sign a piece of paper.
Ener seems to be far from finished, and he will continue to unleash bombs whenever he gets the opportunity. The Boston Celtics center isn’t letting up, and he’ll do whatever it takes to enlist more people in his battle against China’s government.
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