Enes Kanter shoes in tonight’s game had LeBron bowing to China.

[LAL1947]

I respect Kanter for speaking out against China, but so weird that he's singling out LeBron. He has teammates with Nike deals.

So does Kanter intend to retire from the NBA cause of their on going business in China or with Nike or does he draw the line at attacking others?

I don't want to attack Kanter too much, because it is admirable to speak out against China the way he has, and he's been the most vocal pro-vaccine NBA player, as far as I know...but he's kind of doing it the easy way here. It's not even that he's not retiring from the NBA, you can still be part of a system and speak out against it, but he's being especially selective here. Tatum has a multi-year deal with Jordan (so same thing), but I suspect he won't have anything to say about that.

Kanter is not going after Lebron simply because Lebron has a shoe deal with a company that makes shoes in China using slave labor. This is far, far bigger than that... and also involves Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, organ-harvesting, etc, etc. He's doing this because Lebron responded to Morey supporting the Hong Kong protest by claiming he didn't think Morey was "educated on the situation at hand".

He has also gone after MJ for the shoes though, if I'm not mistaken.

[Mephariel]

First off, those are some amazing kicks. Seriously. Bravo to the artist.

Secondly, good on Kanter. That's what free speech is for.

Last, I wonder what China's reaction will be? Will they cancel the NBA again? Will they try to have Kanter assassinated?
I mean, they just disappeared a former professional tennis athlete for coming forward with a claim of sexual assault against a party member. Assassination seems farfetched but it would certainly be easier, and possibly more lucrative, for Kanter to just cash those checks and be quiet. Gotta give him some credit for bravery here, agree or disagree.

Yep - going against Lebron/China does take a lot of balls (excuse my language)

It doesn't. He is not a star. He has nothing to lose. This is the only way he can get attention.

[kio80]

Kanter has nothing to lose, that’s his only way to stay relevant.


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[Shock Defeat]

Not sure if already posted, if so mods please merge/delete. I looked and didn’t see a thread page 1 or 2, but maybe I missed it. This is definitely an interesting situation brewing between these two currently.

Read on Twitter

Mad respect to Enes Kanter. He appears to have more in common with Martin Luther King Jr than Lebron does, in terms of standing up for people's lives, freedom and civil rights.

I'm too old to wear colorful sneakers like those but I have to admit they look pretty cool too.

MLKj sacrificed. What has Kanter sacrificed? Nothing at all. It’s easy to talk when you have nothing on the line. He is still collecting NBA checks. Wearing Nikes.

[Duke4life831]

Im not going to say if I agree with Kanter or not (dont get into political back and forth on the internet, pointless in my opinion).

I think its a funny troll by Kanter and it clearly did exactly what Kanter wanted, got people talking. Got people talking on social media, they brought it up during the game, got a thread started about it on here. So Kanter got what he wanted, people talking about it.

[GSWFan1994]

Kanter has balls of steel for doing what he did, and I commend him for that.

[MoneyMo]

Lebron should hit that phony with this



Amazing his has nothing to say about Tatum who also has a Nike deal.

[LAL1947]

Not sure if already posted, if so mods please merge/delete. I looked and didn’t see a thread page 1 or 2, but maybe I missed it. This is definitely an interesting situation brewing between these two currently.

Read on Twitter

Mad respect to Enes Kanter. He appears to have more in common with Martin Luther King Jr than Lebron does, in terms of standing up for people's lives, freedom and civil rights.

I'm too old to wear colorful sneakers like those but I have to admit they look pretty cool too.

MLKj sacrificed. What has Kanter sacrificed? Nothing at all. It’s easy to talk when you have nothing on the line. He is still collecting NBA checks. Wearing Nikes.

I'm not comparing Kanter to MLK. Only saying he's made more genuine stands for people's lives, freedoms, rights than Lebron has... and in doing so, he's closer to MLK than Lebron "you're not educated on the situation" James is.

[BoatsNZones]

It is pretty clear why. LeBron was the one that stood up for China during the Morey situation and he wants to come off as a social justice warrior. Of course that is only when it doesn't impact his pocket book.

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Ding ding. He's effectively the face of Chinese/NBA relations and took their side against Morey's stance against China (hilariously/famously, calling Morey ignorant on the issue).

This is amazing. Kanter is the King of trolls.

Weren't they IN China?

Safety matters? Isn't there an athlete missing right now? Its kind of reckless to be stating "facts" without context, isnt it?

It's a cute thought (imagining Lebron and the team would be in danger... China is not looking to start World War 3 by kidnapping/killing American NBA superstars, they feel much more freedom kidnapping their own), but no, he was home safe and sound when he made these comments. Ja Morant was one of the few NBA players who called it as he saw it right away (love that guy). "No surprise here. SMH" being his response to Lebron's China comments. No kill shot, but clearly knowledgeable of who Lebron is and what he stands for (fame+money, at any anb all costs).

[dockingsched]

People actually think Kanter is being brave? He’s not risking a single thing. This is so confusing.

[lakerz12]

So does Kanter intend to retire from the NBA cause of their on going business in China or with Nike or does he draw the line at attacking others?

Look at his Twitter.

He has been drawing attention to these issues for a while, without attacking others.

Attacking LeBron is just a recent thing.

And obviously being in the NBA gives him the platform to have an influence.

Even if Kanter is not perfect, he is still drawing attention to these issues.

[levon]

so Lebron said Morey was too quick to jump on Twitter and jeopardize the safety of his own league's players in China, which Morey himself then released in his letter and apology, and James Harden said "we love China", but you're really going to have a grown man bowing to a dictator on your Converse?

this is beyond unprofessional frankly. the people who are saying he just wants attention are 100% right

I'm sure this plays great on Fox News tomorrow after the Rittenhouse acquittal

[Mephariel]

Mad respect to Enes Kanter. He appears to have more in common with Martin Luther King Jr than Lebron does, in terms of standing up for people's lives, freedom and civil rights.

I'm too old to wear colorful sneakers like those but I have to admit they look pretty cool too.

MLKj sacrificed. What has Kanter sacrificed? Nothing at all. It’s easy to talk when you have nothing on the line. He is still collecting NBA checks. Wearing Nikes.

I'm not comparing Kanter to MLK. Only saying he's made more genuine stands for people's lives, freedoms, rights than Lebron has... and in doing so, he's closer to MLK than Mr. "you're not educated on the situation" James is.

You are crazy right? Lebron has done more for his community than Kanter ever had. What on earth has Kanter done?

Lebron actually done something to help people: https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/what-lebron-james-charity

And if Kanter is so genuine, why does he play in a league that earns millions in China? Why doesn't he take a stand and leave like Kaepernick?

[KembaWalker]

Lotsa guys in here ready to simp for LeBron and China huh lmao

[dockingsched]

So does Kanter intend to retire from the NBA cause of their on going business in China or with Nike or does he draw the line at attacking others?

Look at his Twitter.

He has been drawing attention to these issues for a while, without attacking others.

Attacking LeBron is just a recent thing.

And obviously being in the NBA gives him the platform to have an influence.

Even if Kanter is not perfect, he is still drawing attention to these issues.

Ok but what does that have to do with people thinking he’s being “brave” for attacking Lebron? Frankly it’s cowardly.

[LAL1947]

So does Kanter intend to retire from the NBA cause of their on going business in China or with Nike or does he draw the line at attacking others?

Look at his Twitter.

He has been drawing attention to these issues for a while, without attacking others.

Attacking LeBron is just a recent thing.

And obviously being in the NBA gives him the platform to have an influence.

Even if Kanter is not perfect, he is still drawing attention to these issues.

Exactly this. In the past, he has also drawn attention to actual human rights violations in Turkey, which resulted in the government of Turkey issuing warrants for his arrest.

[azcatz11]

Im not going to say if I agree with Kanter or not (dont get into political back and forth on the internet, pointless in my opinion).

I think its a funny troll by Kanter and it clearly did exactly what Kanter wanted, got people talking. Got people talking on social media, they brought it up during the game, got a thread started about it on here. So Kanter got what he wanted, people talking about it.

Yes but what are your views on abortion?

[NotaHypeJob]

People actually think Kanter is being brave? He’s not risking a single thing. This is so confusing.

It's just a grift from Kanter, foreigners have used being anti-black to profit in the US forever.

[thebigbird]

China is just a red herring by LeBron haters to detract from his social justice work. How many people criticizing him are typing their criticisms out on devices manufactured by slave labor in China?

[Mephariel]

Lotsa guys in here ready to simp for LeBron and China huh lmao

No I just have no tolerance for an attention whore who is also a hypocrite.

If Kevin Durant attacks the NBA and Nike and quits to make a point, then that is mad respect.