LeBron James dismissed criticism from the Boston Celtics’ Enes Kanter over his views on China after Kanter wore shoes depicting James being crowned by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
James said Kanter didn’t raise concerns about the former Los Angeles Lakers star’s ties to China with him directly when they met Friday, when Kanter wore the shoes as the Celtics and the Lakers faced off in Massachusetts. Kanter instead wore the shoes to criticize James’s past words about China’s controversies with the National Basketball Association.
“I don’t give too many people my energy,” James said. “He’s definitely not someone I would give my energy to. He’s trying to use my name to create an opportunity for himself. I definitely won’t comment too much on that. … He’s always had a word or two to say in my direction, and as a man, if you’ve got an issue with somebody, you really come up to him. He had his opportunity tonight. I saw him in the hallway, and he walked right by me.”
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Kanter tweeted pictures of the shoes Thursday, captioned, “Money over Morals for the ‘King.’ Sad & disgusting how these athletes pretend they care about social justice.”
Money over Morals for the “King” ?
Sad & disgusting how these athletes pretend they care about social justice
They really do “shut up & dribble” when Big Boss ?? says so
Did you educate yourself about the slave labor that made your shoes or is that not part of your research? pic.twitter.com/YUA8rGYeoZ
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 18, 2021
In 2019, James said a Houston Rockets manager who voiced support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests was “misinformed or not really educated on the situation.”
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Kanter is outspoken against China’s oppression of the country’s workers, Uyghurs, and Tibetans, going so far as to get Celtics games stripped from circulation on Chinese distributor Tencent. He wears custom anti-China shoes at almost every game.
The Celtics defeated the Lakers Friday 130-108.
