ISTANBUL — Basketball fans in Turkey were in an uproar Wednesday after the main TV sports channel pulled the first game of the NBA Western Conference finals in an apparent attempt to keep the outspoken Portland Trail Blazers player Enes Kanter off Turkish screens.

Mr. Kanter is a Turkish citizen who has been a vocal critic of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s president, calling him “the Hitler of our century.” The athlete has been indicted on a charge of violating a law against insulting the president, according to pro-government newspapers.

Prosecutors have also sought an international arrest warrant for him because of his support for Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the United States and who is accused by Mr. Erdogan of instigating a failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016.

S Sport, a popular sports channel widely available on national cable companies, did not broadcast the game between the Trail Blazers and the defending champion team, the Golden State Warriors. The Blazers lost, 116-94.