Often outspoken Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter made a rare foray into political discussions involving U.S. politicians Sunday — if indirectly — with a comment on Twitter referencing senior ESPN analyst Adrian Wojnarowski.
Woj — as he is often called for short — had recently fallen into hot water with the prominent sports outlet for a brief but profane email sent to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley recently, which resulted in the suspension of Wojnarowski with ESPN.
Kanter, a constant defender of human rights in his native Turkey and in general, has typically been open to working with politicians in the U.S. on either side of the aisle so long as they are willing to stand in defense of human rights.
#NBATwitter finding out @espn suspended Woj #FreeWoj
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) July 12, 2020
But his tweet on Sunday, which appeared to show an army of supporters coming to Wojnarowski’s aid after his suspension for the profane letter along with the hashtag #FreeWoj, looked to put the Celtics center squarely in Woj’s camp.
While the reason behind Woj’s letter is not necessarily clear, it seems to have been in response to recent comments about the league by the Senator.
Hawley’s position is that the NBA has been too cozy with China after the incident with Houston Rockets (general manager Daryl Morey created a firestorm of controversy with that country after his Twitter critique of the response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong earlier in the season).
He also has said that players should be granted more leeway in the messaging the NBA has granted players in support of racial justice, calling on the NBA to allow messages in support of police and other causes.
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