LeBron James received criticism from Enes Kanter Freedom on Sunday following his achievement of surpassing 40,000 career points against the Denver Nuggets over the weekend.
The NBA player’s integrity was mentioned by Freedom, who has criticised James for not speaking out against China’s abuse of Uyghur Muslims and his affiliation with Nike.
“Integrity > 40,000 points,” Freedom wrote.
On Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Los Angeles, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James makes gestures. (Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo)
“A lot of child slave sweatshop supporters in these comments,” he continued. but do feel free to discuss social justice whenever it’s convenient for you.
Nike has long been accused of producing the gear it sells all over the world in sweatshops in Asia. For its fiscal year 2023, the business issued a statement against modern slavery, forced labour, and human trafficking.
“NIKE takes seriously and fully supports national and international efforts to end forced labor, human trafficking and modern slavery,” Nike’s statement read. “NIKE’s requirements for suppliers are contained in our Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards.
“The Code of Conduct lays out the required minimum standards we expect each supplier to meet in producing NIKE products and includes strict requirements around forced and child labor, excessive overtime, compensation, and freedom of association amongst other requirements.”
On November 29, 2022, in New York City, Enes Kanter Freedom attends the Algemeiner 50th Anniversary J100 Gala at The Ziegfeld Ballroom. (Source: Getty Images / Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan)
Nike also provided an overview of the steps it takes to mitigate risk when hiring new employees.
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James faced criticism from Freedom after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored.
“Points: 38,388. No morals. Zero Points. Zero Guidelines. 0 Compassion. 1 Give Honour to China. At the time, he wrote, “Congrats @KingJames.”
James scored 35 points against the Nuggets to surpass the 40,000-point milestone, but Los Angeles lost 124-114 to Denver.
On Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Los Angeles, during an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, forward LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers grinned after scoring. (Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo)
“Being the first player to do something, it’s pretty cool in this league, just knowing the history, the greats that’s come through the league and then you see some of the greats on the floor tonight, it was great to compete,” James said.