Enes Kanter Freedom has been taking American citizenship for the past few months, moving closer to the conservative wing and changing his last name to “Freedom”. Forced into this “change” by the Turkish regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has considered the player an enemy of the state for years. Kanter initially supported Fethullah Gülen and was banned from Turkey, with death threats to his family if he did not remove him.
Now an official bounty has been placed on Kanter’s head: $490,000, nearly half a million, for anyone who can give information leading to the arrest of the former Jazz, Thunder, Celtics and Blazers center. Kanter Freedom has been placed on the Turkish government’s list of wanted terrorists, so his status if possible is even more perilous than before.
In recent times, the player has accused the NBA of alienating him in turn for strong stances against China, a very important market for the league. Kanter has not found a contract for a year; he had been traded from Boston to Houston on Feb. 10, 2022, and then cut four days later. Throughout his career, the 30-year-old Turk has railed against many regimes: starting with the Turkish one, then moving on to China and Russia in recent times.