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Celtics' Enes Kanter Freedom to Jeremy Lin: 'Shame on You' for Playing in China
December 6, 2021
Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom called out Jeremy Lin on Twitter Sunday for his decision to play basketball in China:
Enes Kanter FREEDOM @EnesFreedomShame on you <a href="https://twitter.com/JLin7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JLin7</a><br><br>Haven’t you had enough of that Dirty Chinese Communist Party money feeding you to stay silent?<br><br>How disgusting of you to turn your back against your country & your people.<br><br>Stand with Taiwan!<br>Stop bowing to money & the Dictatorship.<br><br>Morals over Money brother
Lin, a Taiwanese American, announced in July he will play for the Beijing Ducks after a failed attempt to return to the NBA. He also played for the team in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2019-20.
The 33-year-old was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, spending nine seasons in the league while winning a title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He played for the G League Santa Cruz Warriors in 2020-21 but was unable to land another NBA contract.
Lin acquired a Taiwan passport in 2020 to become a domestic player in the CBA.
Kanter, meanwhile, is a native of Turkey and became a United States citizen last week while legally changing his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.
He has been extremely critical of China, calling President Xi Jinping a "dictator" in an October social media post.
"There are so many forced labor factories in China," Kanter told CNN in October. "For instance, Uyghur forced labor, it is modern day slavery, and it is happening right now in China."
The 29-year-old has also criticized Nike founder Phil Knight and NBA star LeBron James for the company's inaction regarding alleged human rights violations in China.
Kanter's Turkish passport had been canceled in 2017 after critical comments against Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan.