The 29-year-old native of Zurich is now officially named Enes Kanter Freedom. His maiden name will now be his middle name and Freedom the only last name he will wear on his jersey.
The former Turkish official is one of the vocal critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and claims that the local authorities revoked his Turkish passport in 2017. He also often criticizes the human rights situation in China and supports calls for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“Here in the United States, there is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press. I didn’t have any of that in Turkey, “CNN Kanter explained the name change after he became an American citizen on Monday.
Former Fenerbahce basketball player has been living in the United States since 2009. He played 723 games in the NBA in Utah, Oklahoma, New York, Portland and Boston with an average of 11.4 points per game.
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