Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter had his Turkish passport revoked, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has targeted Kanter for his speech.
That became fodder for a heckler in Denver last night.
Royce Young of ESPN:
Crowd is chanting "Kanter sucks!" and one yelled out, "Go back to Turkey, oh wait you can't!"
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 2, 2019
Kanter:
I wish I could go back to Turkey to see Family 😔
— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) May 2, 2019
But I chose to support Democracy, Freedom and Human rights,
I am grateful for most Americans supporting that right. @nuggets take control of your fans.
This is hurtful 💔
Be grateful for the Democracy and Freedom we have here. https://t.co/SMGu9j3qc4
Sparked by Russell Westbrook, the NBA is now confronting the racism players face. It’s time to stop the xenophobia, too.
Want to chant “Kanter sucks” because he knocked over a Nuggets player? Totally fine (even if Kanter got pushed into Torrey Craig by Nikola Jokic). Kanter is an antagonist who goads rival fan bases into loathing him.
But telling him to go back to his own country crosses a line. This instance is especially disgusting because the fan is mocking Kanter for having his freedoms encroached by an authoritarian.
