(CNN) Portland Trail Blazers center and Turkey native Enes Kanter has a famously strained relationship with his home country's leadership. So when the NBA Turkey Twitter account seemingly subbed him after a solid playoff performance this week, Kanter noticed.
So did the NBA.
The league is cutting ties with the Turkish vendor that ran its Turkish-language Twitter account, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said on Thursday, after Kanter alleged that the account was censoring him.
"The NBA Turkey Twitter account was managed by a local vendor and we are terminating that relationship," Tatum said in an email statement released by the NBA.
In the backdrop of this episode is Kanter's longstanding criticism of the Turkish government, and that government's public desire to arrest him.
But the tweets in question relate to the Trail Blazers' 97-90 win against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday in the second game of their second-round playoff series.
Kanter had 15 points, tied for second most on his team. He also had nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The NBA's main Twitter account announced the game's result and top scorers -- and it included Kanter's name and picture.
The NBA Turkey account had a similar post with all the same names, except Kanter's. The center's image also was missing.
Kanter wasn't impressed, and tweeted a side-by-side comparison.
"Only Turkish player out here tonight, and the official @NBA for Turkey @NBAturkiye is censoring me," Kanter tweeted Wednesday. "They don't show Blazers games in Turkey. The government controls people, this a problem. How can official NBA allow this."
Tatum, in his statement, said fans in Turkey can watch the Trail Blazers and Kanter on NBA League Pass and NBA TV International.
It wasn't immediately clear what would become of the Turkish account or who would operate it. The account still was posting NBA videos on Friday.
Kanter on Thursday morning also took issue with a fan's heckling in Denver, where Wednesday's game took place.
The athlete retweeted ESPN writer Royce Young, who noted that someone in the Denver crowd yelled, "Go back to Turkey. Oh wait, you can't!"
"I wish I could go back to Turkey to see family," Kanter wrote. "But I chose to support Democracy, Freedom and Human rights, I am grateful for most Americans supporting that right. @nuggets take control of your fans."
The National Basketball Players Association on Thursday issued a statement supporting Kanter, saying it 'fully supports our players using their platforms to stand up for their beliefs and the principles they support."
"We stand with Enes and, as with all of our players, will work to ensure that he is treated fairly and with respect."
Kanter on Thursday thanked the NBA for terminating the vendor, and the NBPA for its support.
"I can't thank @NBA enough for making the right move by terminating their local Turkish PR person who censored me during playoffs on the @NBATurkiye account ," Kanter tweeted Thursday night. "Thank you @NBA and @TheNBPA for standing up for human rights, democracy and stand against the dictatorship."
The Trail Blazers host the Nuggets in the third game of their playoff series Friday night.
The acrimony between Kanter and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government goes back several years.
In 2017, the NBA player called Turkey's leader "the Hitler of our century" over a crackdown that followed a failed 2016 coup attempt. Tens of thousands of people were imprisoned in Turkey after the failed coup.
Turkey has accused Kanter of being part of a terror organization because of his ties to US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Erogan has accused of masterminding the coup attempt -- a charge Gulen has denied.
Kanter has dismissed the allegations against him as absurd.
Earlier this year, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that Turkey submitted an extradition request for Kanter, and requested an Interpol red notice for his arrest. Kanter said Turkey revoked his passport in 2017.