{"id":884072,"date":"2026-09-05T08:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884072\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T08:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:28:11","slug":"nba-insider-suggests-real-china-reason-enes-kanter-is-targeting-the-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884072\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA insider suggests real &#8216;China&#8217; reason Enes Kanter is targeting the WNBA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMWcxajNfc2h3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> Follow us on Google Discover <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>With Enes Kanter continuing his crusade against the WNBA, Ric Bucher has shared the \u2018real reason\u2019 why the former NBA star is on the warpath.<\/p>\n<p>Enes Kanter has become a household name within the WNBA for his involvement in the trans athlete debate raging on around the league. <\/p>\n<p>The situation has become bigger than basketball, with American political figures of all affiliations weighing in on the matter. And Kanter is at the centre of it all. <\/p>\n<p>While there is no doubt that the former NBA player is committed to the cause, many have wondered why. And one NBA analyst has a theory about why the 34-year-old is doing this. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2291752885-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Former basketball player Enes Kanter Freedom looks on during the second half between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena\" class=\"wp-image-2609404\" \/>Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty ImagesRic Bucher claims Enes Kanter is trying to get back at the NBA for \u2018blackballing him\u2019 over his China criticism<\/p>\n<p>The NBA effectively runs the WNBA, the men\u2019s league has supported them financially for years. The league even directly controls a 42 percent ownership stake in the W. <\/p>\n<p>Kanter\u2019s NBA tenure didn\u2019t end too well. And while many think he just wasn\u2019t good enough, NBA analyst Ric Bucher has suggested that the league\u2019s \u2018blackballing\u2019 of Kanter is what has led to his current situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnes found an NBA weak spot, and he\u2019s sticking a knife in it,\u201d Bucher claimed. \u201cThere\u2019s a conversation I had with someone in the NBA which made me realize why Enes decided to take on the WNBA. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he understands that the NBA runs it. And he certainly has an axe to grind when it comes to the NBA. Because he believes his career prematurely ended at 29. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe owners collectively blackballed him for his comments about the NBA\u2019s relationship with China, and other foreign business partners. They exiled him in his mind to protect their business interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnes sees the NBA as who it will loudly support and who it will look the other way for based on what makes the most business sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is no way for anyone to be certain what Kanter\u2019s motivations are. He certainly seems to be championing the cause based on his beliefs. But this is definitely an interesting angle to consider. <\/p>\n<p>Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover With Enes Kanter continuing his crusade against the WNBA, Ric Bucher has shared&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,71219,82,630],"class_list":["post-884072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-enes-kanter","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}