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Enes Kanter Lashes Out At Nike And Calls Out LeBron James In Video About Chinese ‘Slave Labor’

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LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 20: Boston Celtics Center Enes Kanter (11) looks on before a NBA game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers on November 20, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter has been in the news lately for calling out China and their mistreatment of Tibetan people, as well as their imprisonment of Muslims.

In response, the Chinese government has pulled all Celtics games from their programming.

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Enes Kanter will not be threatened into silence, though.

On Monday, the center put another video on social media, calling out Nike for benefitting off of Chinese slave labor for their product.

“Your company says that you’re making a positive impact in our communities,” Kanter said. “And that is true. Yes, you are. Here, in the United States, Nike stands with Black Lives Matter. Nike stands with Stop Asian Hate. Nike stands with the Latino community. And Nike stands with the LGBTQ community … But when it comes to China, Nike remains silent.”

“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.”

Last year, the Washington Post reported that the Chinese Government was forcing workers to work at a Nike shoe plant, to which the company responded that they had stopped hiring new workers to that particular factory in 2019.

“Who makes your shoes in China? Do you even know? There are so many forced labor factories in China,” Kanter said. “For instance, Uyghur forced labor. A modern-day slavery. And it is happening right now in China …”

Enes Kanter also called out Michael Jordan and LeBron James to end the inhumane labor that goes on in Nike plants.

“Nike likes to say ‘Just Do It.’ Well, what are you doing about the slave labor that makes your shoes? That slave labor that makes you rich,” Kanter said. “To the owner of Nike — Phil Knight — I have a message for you. How about I book plane tickets for us, let’s fly to China together. We can try to visit these slave labor camps and you can see with your own eyes. LeBron James and Michael Jordan, you guys are welcome to come too. Nike must be a participant in this. Stop the hypocrisy. Stop the modern-day slavery now.”

You have to respect Enes Kanter’s willingness to speak his mind despite the repercussions that he might face from a business standpoint.


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