Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter will become a US citizen on Monday and change his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.
Enes Kanter
| Team: |
Boston Celtics |
| Position: | PF, C |
| Age: | 29 |
| Height: | 211 cm |
| Weight: | 121 kg |
| Birth place: | Zurich, Switzerland |
'Freedom' would become his last name, making 'Kanter' a middle name.
Kanter, a native of Turkey, has been a social- and human-rights activist over the past several years. He has protested against the regime of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and previously called him the "Hitler of our century."
The Turkish government put a warrant out for his arrest in 2019, accusing him of being a member of a terrorist group. Kanter shared on social media in July 2020 a sampling of the "thousands" of death threats he said he received daily.
More recently, he has been critical of the human-rights record of the Chinese government as Beijing prepares to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, calling for the International Olympic Committee to move the Games.
He also has criticized Nike for doing business in China and LeBron James, a prominent Nike endorser, for not standing up for human rights.
"Money over Morals for the 'King'," Kanter tweeted Nov. 18 about James and his Nike relationship.
Kanter is averaging career-lows this season with 4.2 points and 5.2 rebounds over 11.2 minutes.
