Lawmakers call for NBA and its players union to cut ties with Chinese gear makers

A group of lawmakers have sent a pair of letters to the NBA and its players union, urging both to distance themselves from China and the country’s use of labor camps.

The letters from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China asked both the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association to forbid using or selling NBA-branded gear, shoes, or other merchandise that had been made with forced labor.

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The CECC sent the letters as a follow-up to testimony received from Enes Kanter Freedom, a human rights advocate and a former NBA player, in July.

“We believe the NBA can lead by example and pave the way for more American businesses to stand with basic morality and human dignity,” the CECC’s letter to the NBA read. “We stand ready to offer you whatever guidance and support that we can from the U.S. Congress to address these issues.”

In his testimony this summer, Freedom told the CECC’s bipartisan and bicameral commission that the NBPA pressured him to stop criticizing the People’s Republic of China and its “horrific human rights abuses.” Freedom said he had also been pressured by the NBPA to stop wearing shoes emblazoned with messages about the PRC’s human rights abuses, “including Uyghur forced labor.”

Charles Krupa/AP

Freedom was released by the NBA in 2022, ending his 11-year career with the league. The CECC said in its letter that it was “disheartening” that the NBPA would comply with “bringing Chinese censorship to the United States.”

“In 2021 we wrote your predecessors at the NBPA, urging them to raise awareness about genocide and forced labor occurring in the XUAR and its connection to ANTA, Li-Ning, Peak, and other sportwear companies,” the letter to the NBPA read. “The response at that time was extremely disappointing. While the genocide continues, ANTA, Peak and Li-Ning likely continue to profit from the systematic use of forced labor in the XUAR.”

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Since leaving the NBA, Freedom has continued to voice his support for human rights, as well as his criticism of the NBA. Earlier this year, he claimed the NBA has become “China’s lap dog” and that it only cares about “human rights and social justice until it hits their pocket.”

“You know, what drives me crazy is the hypocrisy,” Freedom said. ”They’ll talk about all the human rights violations or political precedences in America, but when it comes to China, they’re going to stay silent. That’s the one thing that just blows my mind.”