I genuinely don’t rely on Fox News – although their sport is okay, the did support an utter lunatic in his time as POTUS – for information, but this was an interesting interview with Ennis Kanter Freedom.
I don’t know much about his issues with the Turkish Government, but his views on China are spot on. The Chinese Government are utter scumbags. No one should deal with them. The NBA can be successful and prosperous without getting into bed with an utterly corrupt regime. Why the West has helped them prosper is utterly beyond me, and the Biden regime’s dealings with Tiawan might yet chuck a serious spanner in the NBA’s apparent need to tap into the Chinese market anyway.
But his comments about the Chinese may well have ended his career. Clearly the NBA have done a Colin Karpernick on him. They’ll never admit it, but he’s been blackballed. The fact that Houston, having stood up to China is a previous spat, wouldn’t give him any court time after he arrived last season, says everything. He is clearly still good enough to play a role in the NBA. He knows this, and I admire the guy for continuing to make his point. He can never go back to Turkey while Erdigan is in power, Turkish Airlines’ sponsorship of EuroLeague would make it very awkward, and obviously the Chinese League is somewhat unlikely.
So he’s left with the scrubs. He says he wants to play, but a bloke who’s earned around $5mill per year on average, including a four year deal worth $70mill, might not want to end up in South American on £500k.
But I wonder if he’d fancy London, though. It would be a signing that would blow anything the EuroCup has out of the water. They don’t get players who could still do a job in the NBA. It would risk pissing off EuroLeague, but the reality is that by the time they’ve proved themselves in Europe, Russian clubs will be back in the competition.
Could it happen? It’s highly unlikely, though intriguing that it’s even a (semi)serious conversation.
Whatever happens, I do hope he gets another job. It’s massively gutless that the NBA fold like cheap whores when it comes to dealing with the Chinese. He deserves better
daveballblog 