The Western Conference finals between the Warriors and Blazers won't be carried by Turkey's main NBA broadcaster to prevent Enes Kanter from being seen on TV screens in a country where the government considers the Portland big man a traitor, Reuters reported.
S Sport and two NBA commentators confirmed that the channel would continue to keep Kanter, an outspoken critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, off TV in his homeland.
“I can say clearly that we will not be broadcasting the Warriors-Blazers series,” S Sport commentator Omer Sarac told Reuters. “Furthermore, if Portland makes it to the finals, (that) will not be broadcast either. … This situation is not about us, but it is what it is.”
Basketball is second only to soccer in popularity among Turkey's 82 million people, but broadcasters there have ignored Kanter’s games since last year, when he was indicted by a Turkish court and charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group. Kanter, 26, has denied the charge.
Kanter has called himself a close ally of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Erdogan and his supporters for a failed coup in July 2016. Gulen has denied involvement.
NBA fans in Turkey will be able to see the games through pay-TV's NBA League Pass and online's NBA TV International. S Sport confirmed it would carry the Eastern Conference finals between the Raptors and Bucks.
“It is mind-blowing that a conference final will not be broadcast in Turkey,” said Mete Aktas, a well-known Turkish NBA commentator and former chief editor of NBA Turkey magazine.
Kanter scored 12 points and had 13 rebounds in the Trail Blazers' Game 7 victory over the Nuggets that clinched a spot in the Western finals, but S Sport didn't carry that or any other game in the Blazers' first two playoff series.
Earlier in the Nuggets series, the NBA terminated a local vendor in Turkey who ran the NBA's Turkish-centric Twitter account after it didn't mention Kanter's efforts in the Blazers' Game 2 win in Denver and removed his statistics from its account of the game.
After that episode, the NBA players union backed Kanter.
“The National Basketball Players Association fully supports our players using their platforms to stand up for their beliefs and the principles they support," the union said in a statement. "We stand with Enes and, as with all of our players, will work to ensure that he is treated fairly and with respect.”
Turkish officials have demanded that the United States extradite Kanter, which the U.S. has refused to do.
