Enes Freedom is currently without a home in the NBA.
The center began the 2021-22 season with the Boston Celtics before being dealt to the Houston Rockets prior to the trade deadline. He was waived by the Rockets before playing in a game with them.
Freedom is known best for his political beliefs, which he often voices publicly. The 29-year-old thinks that his political takes have a lot to do with why he currently isn’t in the league.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize why I got little playing time and was released,” he told Sopan Deb of the New York Times. “But it does take people with a conscience to speak out and say it’s not right.”
Freedom appeared in 35 games for the Celtics this season, making one start. He averaged 3.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. The big man got just 11.7 minutes of action per contest, and he seems to believe that his politics played a role in that.
Freedom has played for five different NBA teams since making his debut back in 2011. He broke into the league after being taken with the third overall pick in the 2011 draft.
While Freedom knows how to put the ball in the basket and is a talented rebounder, he’s known as a major liability on the defensive end.
In the 2020-21 regular season, he played in 72 games for the Portland Trail Blazers and got 24.4 minutes of action per contest. However, once the playoffs rolled around, he played just 11.2 minutes per game, with many fans pointing to his defense as a reason why.
That’s certainly one alternate possibility as to why the veteran is currently a free agent. Ultimately, only time will tell if he plays in the NBA again. He has made it clear that he isn’t ready to retire.
