Enes Kanter Freedom slammed the NBA and the league’s commissioner Adam Silver for their “double standards” after the suspension of Kyrie Irving following his tweet that promoted an antisemitic documentary.
The Nets suspended Irving for at least five games without pay and the guard also faced backlash from the Anti-Defamation League, not to mention the whirlwind of flak on social media.
Kanter, who added Freedom as his surname took to Twitter to criticize Silver after his vocal opinion and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. In his post, he wrote:
Calling out #China for the ongoing Genocide gets you kicked out of the @NBA, but when promoting a movie that says Jews worship Satan, you can buy your apology.
The double standard is real.
Shame on the #NBA & Adam Silver for picking & choosing when they care about human rights.
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) November 3, 2022
“Calling out #China for the ongoing Genocide gets you kicked out of the @NBA , but when promoting a movie that says Jews worship Satan, you can buy your apology.
The double standard is real.
Shame on the #NBA & Adam Silver for picking & choosing when they care about human rights.”
His comments come after his earlier outburst where he took a shot at Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai for the second time, who had condemned Irving’s retweet of antisemitic content. He minced no words:
I applaud you for condemning @KyrieIrving after multiple antisemitic incidents.
It’s time to condemn yourself for supporting the millions of Muslims being slaughtered in #China
You literally contribute to genocide,you freaking hypocrite @joetsai1999
You’re far worse than Kyrie https://t.co/kf43PZmtmm
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) October 29, 2022
I applaud you for condemning @KyrieIrving after multiple antisemitic incidents. It’s time to condemn yourself for supporting the millions of Muslims being slaughtered in #China You literally contribute to genocide,you freaking hypocrite @joetsai1999
Kanter’s quote on double standards comes from previous instances as well. Last year in March, the league fined Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard $50,000 and suspended him for a week for using an antisemitic slur while playing video games on a Livestream.
Additionally, the franchise also suspended him for two days while the league carried on an investigation. The Heat then quickly traded Leonard to Oklahoma City Thunder, which released him about a week later. He has been unsigned since.
In a subsequent video that emerged, Leonard explained how he made up for his act by sitting down with a Rabbi, putting in more effort to learn about the Jewish culture, and also visiting the Holocaust memorial.
The same couldn’t be said about Kanter after he alleged that he was cut due to his views about the Chinese government. He was traded by the Boston Celtics to the Houston Rockets in February 2022 along with Dennis Schroder and Bruno Fernando in exchange for Daniel Thies. And Houston waived him four days later.
The Brooklyn Nets Suspend Kyrie Irving While Also Releasing A Strong Statement
The Nets suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games without pay and that further clouds his future with the franchise. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted the news and followed it up with a copy of the Nets’ statement.
In their decision to suspend the point guard, the Nets wrote that they were dismayed when he further refused to apologize and clarify his actions. You can view the transcript below:
Nets statement pic.twitter.com/8movfKNRdT
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2022
Over the last few days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate. We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.
We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say that he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity – but failed – to clarify.
Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets. We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.
How Kanter’s statement will be received by the Tsai, Silver, and NBA remains to be seen. He’s not been afraid to speak his mind, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he tweets out lambasting the league in the near future.
