Outspoken NBA veteran Enes Freedom has been sounding off on social media against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
His recent Twitter post had a deadly message for “evil” Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Evil Putin,
Let’s speed up to the part where you shoot yourself in a bunker like a coward. pic.twitter.com/gUWEIvpP4o— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) February 27, 2022
This is not the first time Freedom, who was previously known as Enes Kanter, has been vocal on political and human rights issues.
Several years ago, he publicly criticized Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That led to his family being targeted by the Turkish government and the cancellation of his passport.
For a time, Freedom, who was born to Turkish parents, became stateless. He became an American citizen in late 2021.
The big man has also been extremely critical of Xi Jinping, the paramount leader of China. In retaliation to his comments, the Chinese government censored the games of the Boston Celtics, the team Freedom was playing for at the time.
Freedom even went on a tirade late in 2021 against Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese-American whom Freedom accused of turning his back on his country.
The controversial center last played for the Celtics in the 2021-22 season. He was traded to the Houston Rockets as part of the deal that allowed Boston to acquire Daniel Theis. Houston subsequently waived Freedom.
After the transaction, an anonymous NBA general manager expressed doubt regarding whether any team in the league would sign the 29-year-old to a contract.
Freedom has career averages of 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He entered the league in 2011 after the Utah Jazz drafted him with the third overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.
