Chinese Internet Yanks Celtics Games From Air After NBA Player Called Xi A ‘Brutal Dictator’ For Oppressing Tibet

A Chinese internet company with close ties to the communist government yanked Boston Celtics basketball games from the air on Thursday after the team’s center, Enes Kanter, spoke out against the dictator Xi Jinping and his political cronies for oppressing Tibet.

Tencent Sports, which maintains a streaming partnership with the National Basketball Association, abruptly ended its coverage of the popular games after Kanter posted a short video to Facebook on Wednesday calling on “brutal dictator” Jinping to “Free Tibet.”

“My message for the Chinese government is: Free Tibet. Tibet belongs to Tibetans. I am here to add my voice and speak out against what is happening in Tibet under the Chinese government’s brutal rule,” he said. Kanter also called for shame on communist China and Jinping’s “henchmen” for “erasing Tibetan identity and culture.”