Ex-NBA player Royce White lauded for ‘Free the Uygurs’ stance at Big 3 basketball

Former NBA player Royce White has been praised by Uygur activist groups after highlighting their cause following the opening game of the Big 3 basketball league. The Big 3 professional three-on-three basketball league, which was founded by Ice Cube, kicked off its season at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, on Saturday, with White lining up for the Power team against the Enemies. With the games broadcast in the US on CBS, the 30-year-old held up a T-shirt with the slogan “Free the Uygurs” in his courtside postgame interview. The shirt also featured a backwards swoosh, targeting Nike’s stance on the treatment of the Muslim population in China’s Xinjiang region. Both the Big 3 and White shared a still of the interview on social media. When you know a moment like this should be going viral but instead you get crickets from media outlets… that’s when you know you’re doing it the right way. When it doesn’t suit anybody to talk about justice and freedom, that’s when you should talk about it. #FreeTheUyghurs pic.twitter.com/Gx2TkXWadS — Royce White (@Highway_30) July 11, 2021 “When you know a moment like this should be going viral but instead you get crickets from media outlets … that’s when you know you’re doing it the right way,” White wrote on Twitter. “When it doesn’t suit anybody to talk about justice and freedom, that’s when you should talk about it.” He added a “Free the Uygurs” hashtag. In the interview clip, White is asked what his T-shirt means. How would @NBA have responded? Former @NBA player Royce White (@Highway_30) speaks on the Uyghur issue in a post game interview.@IceCube founded this new league, @TheBig3. pic.twitter.com/plgL1tgCX7 — Peter Irwin (@PeterIrwin_) July 12, 2021 “Free the Uygurs, two million ethnic minorities in East Turkestan, China, in concentration camps. Something we got to talk about, you know I’m always going to talk about the real things.” East Turkestan is the name given to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region by the World Uygur Conference, with the short-lived East Turkestan republic located there. It is a term that is not accepted by China and the use of it saw Arsenal footballer Mesut Ozil fall foul of government and fan backlash in the country when he used it in a December 2019 social media post highlighting human rights abuses in the region. Last year, @NBA apologised when its general manager, @dmorey voiced support for protests in #HongKong. This year, former @NBA player @Highway_30 highlights the #UyghurGenocide in a post game interview. Thank you, we need more athletes like @Highway_30. https://t.co/Rjgjrr3A7e — World Uyghur Congress (@UyghurCongress) July 12, 2021 China has consistently denied that any rights abuses have occurred and rejected US claims of genocide. Uygur activist groups picked up White’s interview and have shared it, including the World Uygur Congress, which pointed to the contrast between the Big 3 and the NBA. “Last year, NBA apologised when its general manager, [Daryl Morey] voiced support for protests in Hong Kong,” they wrote, referring to former Houston Rockets GM Morey’s tweet of October, 2019. “This year, former NBA player [Royce White] highlights the Uygur genocide in a postgame interview. Thank you, we need more athletes like [White]” In another message they wrote: “Thank you for defending Uygur voices.” “How would NBA have responded?” asked Peter Irwin of the Uygur Human Rights Project and coordinator of the “No Rights, No Games” group of “Activists calling on the IOC to ensure China respects Uygur rights before hosting Beijing 2022”. .@Highway_30 pic.twitter.com/UQzNMHpy6v — BIG3 (@thebig3) July 10, 2021 “Former NBA player Royce White speaks on the Uygur issue in a post game interview. Ice Cube founded this new league, Big 3,” he added. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, also shared the interview. “Thank you, [White] for your Uygur advocacy! Can’t imagine NBA or Beijing 2022 Olympics responses,” she wrote. Richardson mentioned former All Blacks rugby star and Muslim activist Sonny Bill Williams, who had shown support for Ozil in 2019. I am with you all the way. — Royce White (@Highway_30) July 12, 2021 White responded to human rights lawyer Rayhan E Asat’s calls to move the Olympics from Beijing next year. “I am with you all the way,” he wrote. The Beijing 2022 Olympic Games are set to open on February 4 next year.