A Chinese sports apparel company that signed NBA superstar Kyrie Irving to a multimillion-dollar deal in July has been widely accused of human rights abuses, Rolling Stone reported Thursday.
Irving signed the five-year deal with Chinese apparel company ANTA, marking his first shoe deal since Nike cut ties with him after he shared an antisemitic film on social media and refused to apologize. The deal also reportedly makes Irving the “chief creative officer” for the $30 billion dollar Chinese apparel company. (RELATED: Uyghur Activists Cry Foul Over NBA’s Return To Chinese Audiences)
ANTA has been directly implicated in human rights abuses in China, including the purported enslavement and genocide of the Uyghur population, according to Rolling Stone.
Chinese apparel giant ANTA has been linked to forced labor by Uyghur Muslims — a part of “atrocities” the U.S. State Department has decried as “crimes against humanity.”
Their new Chief Creative Officer? Kyrie Irving.
Story: https://t.co/0s4RjTdnkU pic.twitter.com/AFrdjkDNhr
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 5, 2023
The Chinese apparel brand reportedly sources cotton from Xinjiang, defying an American ban on cotton from that region, per the outlet.
Rolling Stone notes that Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley sent a letter to the NBA ahead of the new season signaling concern over the league’s growing ties to Chinese firms tied to forced labor.
“We are also concerned that Chinese sportswear companies ANTA, Li-Ning, and Peak — companies with contracts with a growing number of NBA players — publicly embrace the use of supply chains linked to forced labor that helps fund the genocide committed in the [Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region],” the letter read, per the outlet.
A separate letter to NBA Player’s Association President C.J. McCollum warned that players became complicit in genocide when they partnered with Chinese brands, the outlet noted.
“NBA players should not be subsidizing genocide by endorsing or wearing shoes and gear from Chinese sportwear companies complicit in forced labor,” the letter stated, per Rolling Stone.
The Chinese government has been accused of enacting a genocide on the Uyghur minority in the Xianjing region of China. The alleged genocide includes the forcing of Uyghurs into re-education camps, forced abortions, forced labor, and torture.