Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom is in deep sh*t as he has been declared wanted by the Turkish government with a whopping $5OOK bounty placed on his head.
With a $500K bounty placed on Enes’ head, you do not need to be told that he is in some deep sh*t with people in power. The New York Post got the details;
Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom — who famously amended his name after becoming a US citizen in 2021 — is officially a wanted man. Not only is his name on 2023’s most-wanted terrorists list, but this is the first time his former country has actually placed a published bounty on people’s heads.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government is offering up to 10 million Turkish Lira, or roughly $500,000, for information leading to the capture of Freedom, who said he found out about it a week ago.
“That makes it so dangerous,” Freedom, 30, told The Post. “Before the bounty, Turkish intelligence were after the people on the list, but now everyone is after them because they want the money.”
He also revealed that he is looking into suing the NBA — “I’m waiting for the right time” — which Freedom claims has blackballed him for his public protests against China.
During 11 seasons in the NBA, Freedom was known for his outspokenness, including against the Turkish government’s human rights abuses. He has called out Erdoğan for being a “dictator,” stepped on a photo of him at a protest, and even dubbed him the “Hitler of our century.”
“Because of my platform, whenever I say something, it goes everywhere and the Turkish government hates that,” Freedom said. “They’re really sick of it, and they said ‘enough is enough’ and are doing whatever they can to shut me up.”
The athlete’s name appears on the Turkish Terrorist Wanted List along with actual terrorists and fellow dissidents critical of the Erdoğan regime, which has routinely defied international human rights law. The list also names more than a dozen journalists — part of a larger assault on the free press in Turkey, where the number of jailed journalists has doubled in the past year.
Although Freedom, who now lives in Washington, DC, admitted the bounty ups his personal security concerns, he said is in constant contact with local law enforcement and the FBI.
“I’m being protected 24/7,” he said, adding that he is more worried for the safety of the lesser-known Turkish dissidents on Erdoğan’s list.
“I’m speaking out because I am not the only one on that list,” Freedom said of the bounty. “There are so many journalists, so many activists, and so many athletes, but they aren’t as well-known as me. They are way easier targets — and they’re alone out there.”
The Swiss-born, Turkish-raised, American citizen has played for the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics and other teams during his time in the NBA.
But he caused a rift in the league — which pulls in billions of dollars in revenue from China via nearly half a billion viewers — when he became an outspoken critic of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.
He’s also been critical of Nike — a major NBA advertiser and player sponsor — for its manufacturing deals in China.
Freedom became known for wearing sneakers with messages like “Free Tibet,” “Free Uyghur,” and “No Beijing 2022,” painted by dissident artists, during games and has said he was pressured by the league to take off his shoes and keep his mouth shut.
Flip to the next page for more…