Celtics' Enes Kanter's Pro-Tibet Message Makes Him A Hero To Local Tibetan Community

The Tibetan community and its allies around Boston are rallying around Celtics center Enes Kanter after he released a video in support of a free Tibet, a move that appears to have led the Chinese streaming service Tencent to remove Celtics games from its platform.

In the video, Kanter said he could not say silent after learning about the situation for Tibetans under Chinese rule.

"I stand with my Tibetan brothers and sisters and I support their calls for freedom," he said.

While the video was released the day the Celtics tipped-off their regular season against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Kanter's interest in Tibet has been developing for some time.

Lobsang Tseten, Campaigns Associate at Students for a Free Tibet told GBH News that Students for a Free Tibet met with an associate of Kanter's a couple of weeks ago and learned of Kanter's interest in their cause. Members of the group and others in the Tibetan community then met with Kanter at the Tibetan Community Center in Queens Tuesday.

"[Kanter's associate] said that Enes is very much interested in learning about the Tibetan issue, about the Tibetan movement, but he also wants to share it from the Tibetan people itself," Tseten said. "So not just from the internet and Google, but from the people itself. And that's how we build a rapport from there."

That night, Kanter listened to the stories of Tibetan community members and talked to Tseten about the similarities between what is happening in Tibet and Kanter's home country of Turkey. Kanter has been a vocal critic of the Turkish government for government years. Tseten, who was born in a refugee settlement in Nepal and has never seen his home country, said having Kanter's support is a breath of fresh air for Tibetans.

"Every Tibetan community right now is feeling overjoyed by his message," he said. "No one of his stature, an NBA player, has ever criticized the Chinsese government for...Tibetan human rights violations. And not just that, I'm pretty sure that his message is also being circulated in Tibet right now."

Howard Fass, the advocacy chair for the Tibetan Association of Boston, applauded Kanter's move.

He said he plans to reach out to Kanter to thank him for his actions.

“It’s really amazing that he’s speaking out and standing up,” Fass said. “I mean, a lot of these guys they just, you know, they just follow the money, so it’s nice to see somebody whose got a real heart and a real soul for not just Tibet, but for humanity.”

Olo Bayul, an advocacy officer for the Tibetan Association of Boston and a former chapter president of Students for a Free Tibet at UMass Boston, said the pro-Tibet movement doesn't have a lot of star power locally, so Kanter’s move was huge for the local Tibetan community, and for him personally.

“I’ve been a Boston Celtics fan for over 20 years, a big Enes Kanter fan,” he said. “And I’ll tell you, this is special for everybody, all Tibetans, but it was specifically special for Tibetans from the Boston area to have a Celtics player speak out about something that is kind of very sensitive, you know? And something that could spell trouble for some of these NBA players.”