The Boston Celtics center received plenty of criticism after his appearance on Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight. But his views are a little more nuanced than some perceive
Enes Kanter Freedom has had an intriguing basketball career. He was barred from playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky because he had received benefits from his time playing professional basketball in Turkey as a teenager. And since being drafted as the No 3 overall pick in the 2011 draft, he has played for five different NBA teams and is currently in his second spell with the Boston Celtics.
But it is off the court where Freedom has attracted the most attention. He has spoken out on human rights violations both in China and Turkey, where he grew up. His criticism of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, led to reprisals against his family and Freedom’s Turkish passport being cancelled. More recently, he has taken aim at LeBron James for his sponsorship deal with Nike and the company’s alleged ties to forced labor in China. Then last month, he became a US citizen and legally changed his name from Enes Kanter to Enes Kanter Freedom.
You can listen Thomas’s full interview with Enes Kanter Freedom here
