Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter has made headlines recently for his outspoken criticism of China’s human rights abuses, including denouncing the NBA’s lack of action on the issue, and slamming NBA sponsor Nike and star player LeBron James. In a fiery interview segment with CNN’s Pamela Brown Sunday night, Kanter added another marquee name to his target list: retired player Michael Jordan, accusing the basketball legend of having “done nothing for the Black community in America” except “giving them money.”
As Mediaite’s Brandon Contes pointed out, Kanter is a benchwarmer for the Celtics and has barely played this season, “but the backup center is proving himself to be one of the bravest athletes in the NBA, as he remains outspoken on controversial geopolitical issues where others are silent.”
Kanter, who grew up in Turkey, became an American citizen earlier this year. He has blasted Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “brutal dictator,” posted a video on social media calling on Nike to “stop the modern day slavery,” advocated for a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, called out the NBA directly, and gone after LeBron James — and that’s all within just the past month.
Brown asked Kanter about how he had “slammed Nike for profiting off of what you call concentration camps,” noting that the shoe manufacturer had said that their suppliers were not using
“Why do you continue to criticize Nike when they say they’re committed to ethical and responsible manufacturing?” Brown asked.
“I mean, do we believe that?” Kanter scoffed. “I do not believe that.” Nike, he said, was the NBA’s biggest sponsor, and in America, they publicly stood with Black Lives Matter, the Latino community, Stop Asian Hate, and the LGBTQ+ community, but “when it comes to China, Nike remains silent.”
Kanter reiterated his accusation of “modern day slavery” against Nike and called them “the biggest hypocrite company, to me, in the world.”
“People need to understand this,” he added, “that every time you put your shoes on, you put that T-shirt on your back, there is so much blood and sweat and oppression on those items, so please, think twice before you buy any of their stuff.”
Brown turned to Kanter’s criticism of James, playing a clip of the Lakers player smacking back at Kanter as “definitely not someone I would give my energy to, you know, try to use my name to create an opportunity for himself.”
Kanter shrugged off James’ response, saying that he felt that “we need to call out these hypocrite players who care about money over morals and principles,”
He continued his criticism of James, saying that he had had “so many conversations” with James’ former teammates who he said described him as someone who didn’t actually care about causes but just “cares about his PR more than anything,” before suddenly pivoting to Jordan:
Not many people are talking about Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan hasn’t done anything, nothing, for the Black community in America besides just, you know, giving them money. I feel like we need to call out these athletes. At least Lebron James is going out there and being the voice of all those people who are oppressed in America.But Michael Jordan has not done anything for the Black community because he cares too much about his shoe sales all over the world and America, and I feel like we need to call out these athletes and not be scared about who they are.
Brown remarked that she “imagined a lot of people in the Black community would disagree with that” and that CNN would reach out to James and Jordan for comment.
Watch the video above, via CNN.