“The International Olympic Committee is in bed with the Chinese Government” - Enes Kanter Freedom criticizes the IOC
Enes Kanter Freedom remains outspoken in his bid to sway the International Olympic Committee from holding the Winter Olympic Games in China. The Boston Celtics center's recent tweet was another step in his attempt to prevent the international event that is all set to take off on February 4, 2022.
In his tweet, Freedom shared a picture along with a caption that read:
"The International @Olympics Committee is in bed with the Chinese Government. They are complicit and echo the Cultish Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda."
The text in the picture in the aforementioned tweet read:
"The Chinese Communist Party does not represent the Olympic core values of excellence, of respect, of friendship and they are a brutal dictatorship."
The International @Olympics Committee is in bed with the Chinese Government. They are complicit and echo the Cultish Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda.
#NoBeijing2022 https://t.co/DLkTN08aPT
Earlier, Enes Kanter Freedom had written an article in the Wall Street Journal urging athletes and the sports community to speak out against the Chinese government's atrocities. Freedom wrote:
"The sports community must wake up—and speak up. We need to realize that the authoritarian Chinese government isn’t our friend. The Communist Party is a brutal dictatorship that has weaponized economic power to achieve ideological and political compliance."
He further argued:
"Athletes can play a profound role in helping turn the tide toward a more safe and free world. History has shown what is possible. Bill Russell stood up against racial injustice. Muhammad Ali protested the Vietnam War. Arthur Ashe spoke out against apartheid in South Africa."
Enes Kanter Freedom has remained outspoken for years
Freedom, who grew up in Turkey, is one of the most outspoken activists in the NBA. His public criticism of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan led to Turkey canceling his passport and demanding extradition in 2019 over his alleged involvement with Fethullah Gülen. Erdoğan claimed that Gülen was behind the 2016 coup attempt against the government.
~Ridiculous~
@PamelaBrownCNN
@CNN https://t.co/9QniT4uj0i
In addition to taking on world leaders over their assumed blatant human rights violations, Enes Kanter Freedom has also often called out sports personalities such as LeBron James and Michael Jordan over their silence on such sensitive issues. In an article authored by Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Freedom was quoted as saying the following about James' silence over human rights violations in China:
"I don't know if he's educated enough, but I'm here to educate him and I'm here to help him, because it's not about money. It's about morals, principles and values. It's about what you stand for. There are way bigger things than money. If LeBron stopped making money now, his grandkids and grandkids and grandkids can have the best life ever. I feel like it's definitely time for athletes to stand up for the things they believe in ... not just in America ... but all over the world."