Celtics games wiped from Chinese internet after player's 'Free Tibet' video

Enes Kanter shoes
(Image credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

A player for the Boston Celtics spoke out Wednesday in support of independence for Tibet while slamming Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "brutal dictator" — and the team's games have quickly been pulled from the Chinese internet.

After Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter on Wednesday released a video on social media slamming Xi Jinping and calling for China to "free Tibet," by Thursday the Celtics' recent games weren't available to stream in Chinese via the internet company Tencent, The New York Times reports. Tencent also cut a live broadcast of a game between the Celtics and the New York Knicks after the video was released, and Tencent's app suggested there wouldn't be live broadcasts of the team's upcoming games, The Washington Post reports.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.