You won’t be watching any Boston Celtics games in China after new signing Enes Kanter took to Twitter to advocate over the independence of Tibet and criticized the Chinese government. In a two-minute video uploaded on Twitter Kanter stated: “Under the Chinese government’s brutal rule, Tibetan peoples’ basic rights and freedoms are non-existent”.
In the video Kanter went on to state that he supported the Tibetan people’s “cause for freedom” while calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator”. Kanter repeated the phrase “free Tibet” while wearing a shirt of the Dalai Lama.
The blowback was huge as the Chinese government ordered all Boston Celtics games to not be broadcast in the country. Here is what the Chinese government has done following Enes Kanter’s remarks.
Chinese government to censor Boston Celtics due to Enes Kanter comments
The Chinese video streaming giant Tencent has eliminated all Boston Celtics games from the schedule of highlights and live broadcasts. It is important to note that the Chinese government demands that foreign businesses align with the country's political policies in order to have access to the vast market that is China.
This is not the first time there has been issues between the NBA and the Chinese government as in 2019 Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey had made comments supporting pro- democracy protesters in Hong Kong. At the moment the NBA nor the Celtics have issued a statement over the matter.
