Celtics’ Enes Kanter doubts sincerity of NBA support for fight against China’s human rights violations

On Wednesday, Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter revealed that he had recently spoken with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver regarding a campaign to bring attention to China's human rights violations. After the league failed to release an official statement on the matter, however, the sincerity of Silver's support was called into question.

As CNN reports, Kanter criticized the NBA of speaking out numerous times about issues such as Black Lives Matter, while staying silent on human rights violations in China. He suggested the hesitancy might be due to the NBA's sights on a lucrative Chinese market.

Kanter's campaign is centered around the issue of forced labour in Chinese factories, mainly that of the persecuted Uyghurs, a Muslim minority population in the northwestern region of China.

An outspoken critic of human rights violations around the world, Kanter has previously been targeted by the NBA for his views. On October 20, for example, he was told by two NBA representatives to remove his custom "Free Tibet" shoes, even though they weren't in violation of any rules. As Forbes reports, Kanter refused, a move which caused Chinese tech company Tencent to remove Boston Celtics games from its streaming service.

Kanter has also gone after NBA partner Nike, which many allege is using Uyghur forced labour in its Chinese factories. Not long after the "Free Tibet" incident, it was reported that Kanter issued an invitation to Nike owner Phil Knight to travel with him to China to see where and how his companies sneakers are made. Kanter also invited LeBron James and Michael Jordan, both of whom have signature sneakers with the footwear giant.

In his invitation, posted to Twitter, he shows off his own Nikes, which are covered with red splashes of paint that look like blood, and the words "made with slave labor," "no more excuses," "modern day slavery," and "hypocrite Nike."