"I had coaches lose their jobs over expressing conservative values" - Enes Freedom criticizes the NBA for not holding any games on Election Day
Enes Freedom criticized the NBA for their decision not to schedule any games on Election Day. The league announced on Tuesday that there will be no games on Nov. 8, which is the midterm election in the United States.
After the league announced their plans on Election Day, Freedom went on Twitter to call out the NBA. He was not happy with the league's plan to hold a civic engagement night on Nov. 7. He also claimed that the NBA is subliminally telling players to vote for a specific party.
"The NBA won't hold any games on Election Day, but will hold a civic engagement night the Monday before the midterm elections to encourage fans and staff to get out and vote," Freedom wrote.
"This is a great idea by the NBA. Election Day should be a federal holiday where everyone can go out and vote."
"The issue though is, that the NBA subliminally encourages players to vote for a certain party. I had coaches lose their jobs over expressing conservative values, players and staffers who had to hide who they support and vote for or they will get hated on the rest of the season."
The issue though is, that the #NBA subliminally encourages players to vote for a certain party.
I had coaches lose their jobs over expressing conservative values,
players & staffers who had to hide who they support & vote for or they will get hated on the rest of the season. https://t.co/GzznfABxwx
Freedom has been a very vocal critic of the NBA ever since he started calling out the Chinese government. He blasted the league for telling him to stop talking about politics, yet they will hold a civic engagement night. He also thinks the NBA is being selective regarding social justice.
The former No. 3 pick believes it's because the league fears upsetting China. When Daryl Morey questioned the Hong Kong protests in 2019, the NBA lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The #NBA constantly told me
“We do NOT want to get involved in politics”
I guess what they meant to say was
“We do NOT want to upset #China”
Unbelievable!
Will Enes Freedom appear in an NBA game again?
Enes Freedom appeared in 35 games for the Boston Celtics last season. He was traded to the Houston Rockets at the deadline and was subsequently waived. In an interview with TMZ Sports last month, Freedom claimed that the NBA and Adam Silver are pushing him to retire.
"They're pushing me to retire at the age of 30," Freedom said. "When you talk about some of the uncomfortable situations are happening around the world, and when your organization that you play for 11 years got tied up with billions of dollars with dictatorship, it's tough. I'm going to push through it. I'm still working out. I'm still practicing."
Freedom was selected third overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2011 NBA draft. He played with the Jazz for three and a half seasons before getting traded to the OKC Thunder. After two and a half years in Oklahoma City, he bounced around the league.
The 30-year-old also played for the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers. In 11 seasons in the NBA, he averaged 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds. When he became a US citizen last year, he legally changed his name from Enes Kanter to Enes Freedom.