Tencent pulls Boston Celtics games after Enes Kanter criticises Xi Jinping over Tibet

Chinese streaming service removes highlights of season opener against New York Knicks, future games appear to be unavailable
US politicians slam NBA players with Chinese sportswear sponsors as 2021-22 season gets under way

NBA (National Basketball Association)

Patrick Blennerhassett

Published: 10:11am, 22 Oct 2021

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Tencent, which has exclusive streaming rights for NBA games in China, has stopped streaming Boston Celtics games online following centre Enes Kanter’s criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Kanter had posted a video message to his social media in which he called Chinese Communist Party leader Xi a “brutal dictator”.

The centre also wore shoes with the words “Free Tibet” emblazoned on them at the team’s season opener against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The highlights of the game have since been removed from the streaming platform and it appears that future Celtics games are unavailable to stream.

This is the latest in a long line of troubles for the NBA and its teams in China since 2019 when then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong’s protest movement.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is not showing any games to start the 2021-22 season.

Tencent does not show Philadelphia 76ers games, where Morey is now the president of basketball operations after he was named to the role in November of 2020, just as the platform did not show Rockets games when Morey was the general manager there.

NBA still missing from Chinese TV screens as new seasons tips off

Games involving the 76ers, who opened their season last night as well against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Celtics are not available for “reservation” on Tencent, which means the app or website will notify subscribers when the game is on.

Elsewhere, two US Democrat politicians, Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative James McGovern, the chair and co-chair of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China, released a statement on Thursday.

In it they asked US Customs and Border Protection commissioner Troy Miller if they had stopped imports from companies that have publicly endorsed the use of cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.

The shoes worn by Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics with the wording “Free Tibet” during the first half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on October 20. Photo: AFP

According to human rights groups and a United Nations committee, as many as 1 million Uygur Muslims – the region’s largest ethnic group – have been detained in “re-education centres” there and subjected to indoctrination, torture and forced labour.

The statement criticised NBA players who have deals with Chinese sportswear manufacturers.

“Of particular concern, given the start of a new NBA season, is the continued availability of products from the Chinese sportswear companies Anta, Peak, and Li-Ning, which have high-profile endorsements from NBA players,” the statement said.

The Celtics play the Toronto Raptors on Friday night in Boston.