Enes Kanter Freedom has not played in an NBA game since February 8, 2022. After the Boston Celtics traded him to the Houston Rockets at the February 10 NBA deadline, the Rockets have not made him a free agent to this day. Freedom has since gone on record as saying the league has denounced him for his anti-China and anti-Nike comments. According to Freedom himself, he was forewarned by his Celtics teammates that his criticism would throw him out of the NBA.
In an interview with ReasonTV, Freedom said several teammates had warned him about the dangers of speaking out against Nike and China.
“I remember one by one my teammates came up to me in the dressing room and said, ‘You know this is your last year, right?’ You won’t get a contract after that.’ They said to me, ‘Listen, you’re attacking Nike. They attack China. You’ll never play another minute for this league again.’ I was like, wow, they really told me, (that) this is it. Just because I talked about the situation in China. I’m exposing Nike and some other companies and stuff.”
Whether or not Freedom’s criticism of Nike and China is the reason why he is no longer in the NBA, the fact remains that he has not played in the NBA since Boston traded him.
Though the Celtics traded Freedom twice shortly after signing there — they first traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2020 NBA draft — Freedom has no ill will toward the team, as he praised the team after nearly winning the NBA championship had won.
Though Freedom didn’t see the run firsthand, in a separate interview with Sport 5 he praised the Celtics for the playoff run they went through as a team.
Freedom was sad they didn’t win the title, which would have benefited him by proxy, but he believes they’ll be back next season.
“It was amazing because obviously that’s the team I played for and if they had won a championship then I would have gotten a championship ring too. But unfortunately it didn’t happen, but they have a great team. I think they will be really good this year.”
While praising his former team, for which he had two stints, Freedom also took the time to praise a recently deceased Celtics legend.
When asked to offer his thoughts on the recent death of Bill Russell at Sport 5, Freedom commended Russell for everything he has done for the world of sports, both inside and outside the game. Freedom made special note of the winner Russell was during his playing days.
“The whole sports family has definitely lost a very important athlete. He won 11 championships. Most you can have. He was an exponent of professionalism and he was a person (who) stands for what he believes in on and off the pitch. That’s why he meant so much to so many people that I will play for his family.”
