While Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter continues to speak out against China and its human rights abuses, it’s worth revisiting what some of the NBA’s supposed social justice advocates had to say about the horrific, genocidal regime that the NBA panders to.
When former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey stumbled into the hornet’s nest by voicing his support for protesters in Hong Kong, all of the NBA’s biggest names were asked to weigh in. But Morey meekly apologized and has since left the team, and these personalities failed to put themselves in opposition to China’s brutal communist government.
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry maintained that he just didn’t “know enough about Chinese history and how that’s influenced modern society today in that interaction.” Curry also claimed that “our presence in China is just a different conversation” than “gun violence or gender equality.” A pillar of bravery, Curry then went on to endorse Joe Biden for president at the Democratic National Convention.
His coach, Steve Kerr, also pleaded ignorance. Kerr called China’s crackdown on Hong Kong a “bizarre international story” that he wasn’t going to comment further on. “What I’ve found is that it’s easy to speak on issues that I’m passionate about and that I feel like I’m well versed on, and I’ve found that it makes the most sense to stick to topics that fall in that category,” Kerr said at the time.
He then claimed he regretted his original answer, but he said nothing condemning China for any of its human rights abuses.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, like Kerr, regularly rants about partisan politics. He also clammed up when it came time to talk about China. Popovich, who the NBA’s website claims lets empathy guide his political punditry, did not mention China once when asked about it. He instead praised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s “courage” before pivoting to bashing then-President Donald Trump.
And, of course, no one can forget LeBron James’s response. James, who embarrasses himself nearly every time he opines on politics, condemned Morey for daring to bad-mouth the Chinese government. “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,” James said. “And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually.”
This is how the NBA’s most sanctimonious moral voices responded as China was brutalizing protesters in its efforts to destroy freedom in Hong Kong. These same moralizers have had nothing to say about China’s genocide of the Uyghurs. Kanter is essentially the only person affiliated with the NBA to push back on the Chinese Communist Party, and the others should not be given a pass.
