Freedom, who’s Muslim however knew little concerning the Uyghurs, threw himself into the trigger. Tahir Imin, a Uyghur activist in Washington who met Freedom at a Capitol Hill rally, mentioned that Freedom “boosted the morale of Uyghur activism.”
That was simply over per week after Freedom opened the N.B.A. season with the Boston Celtics, in October. Forward of their first recreation, Freedom posted a video on Twitter with a caption referring to China’s chief, Xi Jinping, as a “brutal dictator.” Throughout the recreation, he wore footwear designed by the Chinese dissident artist Badiucao that mentioned “Free Tibet,” referring to the area Chinese language troops invaded and seized in 1951.
The N.B.A.’s response, Freedom mentioned, was to attempt to silence him. In a number of media appearances after that recreation, he mentioned two league officers demanded that he take off the footwear, and he refused. On the Olive Tree, he modified the story, saying the officers had been with the Celtics.
He additionally mentioned the N.B.A. gamers’ union individually tried to get him to cease sporting the footwear.
“As an alternative of advocating on my behalf, I’ve encountered the union telling me I have to shut up and cease speaking concerning the human rights violations in China,” Freedom mentioned to The New York Occasions.
Freedom’s story is tough to corroborate as a result of he wouldn’t disclose the names of his antagonists. The union wouldn’t touch upon the specifics, however mentioned in a press release that it supported Freedom and different gamers’ talking out on vital points.
Brad Stevens, the president of basketball operations for the Celtics, mentioned group workers members merely requested whether or not the footwear had been a violation of the league gown code.
“Even the subsequent day, I simply walked as much as him and mentioned, ‘Hey, you all the time have our assist to freely specific your self and say what you need,’” Stevens mentioned. Freedom confirmed this trade.
