On Monday night, Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter, who was born and raised in Turkey, laid into Los Angeles Laker LeBron James for his widely-criticized comments regarding Communist China and censorship.
Speaking to reporters, James complained that Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted out his support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and criticized the principle of freedom of speech, noting that it can have “a lot of negatives.”
“We all talk about this freedom of speech, yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself,” the NBA star said, as reported by The Daily Wire on Monday night. “I don’t want to get into a … feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
“So, just be careful what we tweet and say and what we do even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, there can be a lot of negatives that comes with that too,” James added.
-Haven’t seen or talked to my family 5 years
-Jailed my dad
-My siblings can’t find jobs
-Revoked my passport
-International arrest warrant
-My family can’t leave the country
-Got Death Threats everyday
-Got attacked, harassed
-Tried to kidnap me in IndonesiaFREEDOM IS NOT FREE
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 15, 2019
Kanter, who was banned from his home nation of Turkey after he was vocal about his opposition to authoritarian leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, let his frustration with James’ comments known soon after the story hit social media, though Kanter never used James’ name. – READ MORE