Center celebrates US citizenship with new name
Enes Kanter is scheduled to officially become a United State citizen on Monday, and in honor of this long-anticipated occasion by the Celtics center, he has changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.
The name change caps a particularly active stretch for Freedom, considering his ongoing effort to call attention to the human rights abuses and aggression by the Chinese government in places like Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan via national TV interviews and game night sneaker art. Freedom has called out the NBA and sneaker giant Nike for supporting the Chinese system.
His name change is also part of a long-standing tradition, going back to when Sixers and Cavaliers star Lloyd Free changed his name to World B. Free, and later when the Lakers’ Ron Artest became Metta World Peace.
But it’s all good with his team, provided that Freedom pays proper attention to his professional responsibilities.
“(No problem) with him, specifically,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “He’s a guy that stepped up and was ready to play when this opportunity came with Rob (Williams) being out. And that’s all we really talked about is him staying ready, putting in the work behind the scenes like he was when he wasn’t playing as much, and he’s always professional and ready to play when called upon. He’s been great lately.
“We haven’t talked a ton about off-the-court stuff,” Udoka said of his overall conversations with the team. “It’s been basketball. We congratulated (Freedom) as a group on getting his American citizenship last week. It’ll be official Monday, and so that’s who Enes is, that’s part of him, the name change, and this is who he is. He’s passionate about his stances, and you know the name change is, you look at Artest and guys who have done it in the past, he wants to express something, and we’re all for it.”
Kanter, 29, is a native of Turkey who also has been an outspoken critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government. Kanter has said his passport was revoked by his homeland in 2017.
The 2011 first-round draft pick has also taken to social media to support Tibetan independence and criticize Chinese treatment of the Uyghur people. During games, he has worn shoes decorated to say “Free Tibet” and argue for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.