LeBron James responds to all the criticism he received from Enes Kanter regarding China
LeBron James responds to all the criticism he received from Enes Kanter because of his involvement in supporting the violation of human rights in China.
Kanter called out LeBron for his silence
After missing 8 games, LeBron finally returned to action in tonight's game against the Boston Celtics. Even though they lost the game, which is bad enough for the Lakers at this point of the season, after the game, one of the topics LeBron discussed was the criticism he received from the Celtics center, Enes Kanter. Kanter was recently active in criticizing NBA, Nike, and LeBron James for not standing up to the Chinese government for their mistreatment of workers in factories where those shoes are made.
Kanter has been all over the media for making various claims against the Chinese government, and on several occasions, he mentioned LeBron's name as one of the essential people that should use his voice and influence to speak out.
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According to Dave McMenamin, LeBron said he won't "give his energy" to Enes Kanter's use of his likeness on his sneakers to bring attention to human rights violations in China. He added that Kanter, as a man, should approach him directly. "He saw me in the hallway tonight and he walked right past me".
Whether LeBron should use his voice in these situations depends on him and his stance on this specific issue. The truth is that the NBA and Nike don't want to engage with the Chinese government because China is the most critical market for the league. We've seen several times in recent history what happens when they even try to say something against China. On the other hand, Kanter doesn't have those problems and is highly vocal about the whole issue, but the NBA is not standing behind him even though, according to him, they promised they would.