Lakers’ LeBron James On Criticism From Celtics ‘Enes Kanter: ‘Not Someone I Would Dedicate My Body To’
As LeBron James returns to action Friday for the latest chapter of the Lakers vs Celtics showdown, he’s also back for the latest chapter of Celtics center Enes Kanter head-to-head with him.
Kanter, who has been vocal about a number of social issues, recently dedicated his Twitter feed to speak out against the Chinese government and Nike, including major supporters like James and Michael Jordan.
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During this season, Kanter also spoke out through images and messages of custom sneakers worn during matches. His latest custom shoes are specifically aimed at James.
Ahead of the Celtics’ meeting with the Lakers, Kanter shared images of the custom boots he’ll be wearing during the game. These sneakers feature an image of James along with other images. In the very tweet tagging James and Nike, Kanter wrote “Money over Morals for the ‘King.”
Money over morality for “King”
Sad & disgusted how these athletes pretend to care about social justice
They were really “silent and deceitful” when Big Boss said so
Did you educate yourself about the slave labor that made your shoes or was it not part of your studies? pic.twitter.com/YUA8rGYeoZ
– Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) November 18, 2021
After the Lakers’ 130-108 loss at TD Garden, James was asked about his Kanter usage.
“If you know me, I don’t really give too many people my energy, and he’s certainly not someone I would spend my energy on,” James said of Kanter. “[He’s] try to use my name to give him a chance. “
James continued, adding that Kanter “always had a word or two to say in my direction, and as a man, if you have a problem with someone, you really go to them. He’s got it.” chance tonight I [had] saw him in the hallway. He walks right next to me. “
LeBron on Enes Kanter: “He’s trying to use my name to give himself an opportunity… As a man, if you have a problem with someone, you go see him. He was there’s a chance tonight I met him in the hallway and he walked right next to me.pic.twitter.com/KYDh5o6AMA
– Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 20, 2021
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While not in the hallway, A. Sherrod Blakely of Bleacher Report shared a pregnant video of Kanter walking past James on the field during a pregnancy workout.
Right after LeBron James stepped onto the floor to warm up, right behind him was Enes Kanter, who repeatedly called out LBJ for not speaking out more about social injustices outside of America. # come back pic.twitter.com/l8lBkXcJvN
– A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) November 19, 2021
It’s difficult to pinpoint the beginning of the ongoing feud between James and Kanter, but one of the first notable runaways occurred when James was still with the Cavaliers and Kanter was with the Knicks. Kanter made an exception to James’ comment that the Knicks should have picked Dennis Smith Jr. instead of Frank Ntilikina.
The next night, James, Ntilikina and Kanter were at the center of a brief mid-game performance.
In addition to criticism of his relationship with Nike, Kanter appeared on CNN in October and criticized James because he refuses to be a public supporter for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Celtics and Lakers will meet for the second and final time this season on Tuesday, December 7.