It’s been over a year since Enes Kanter Freedom He last played in an NBA game, but the 11-year NBA veteran remains in the public eye as he continues to advocate for human rights around the world.
Kanter Freedom will receive Riverton, Utah’s inaugural “Mayor’s Freedom Award” Wednesday for exercising his freedom of expression while continuing to denounce human rights abuses in China and other countries around the world.
He will return to the state where he began his NBA career to receive the award, nearly 12 years after he was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.
“Utah plays a very important role in my life because I was recruited by the utah jazz and played there [for] three and a half years,” Kanter Freedom told Fox News Digital. “And while I was playing for the Utah Jazz, the whole city, the whole state, they really embraced me. They practically became my family.
ZION WILLIAMSON RULED OUT OF NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT, HAS NOT PLAYED SINCE EARLY JANUARY: REPORT
“Getting an award in Utah definitely means a lot to me,” Kanter Freedom continued.
April 12, 2023 will also be known as “Enes Freedom Day” in the city of Riverton.
“He’s not only a phenomenal athlete, a great basketball player, but at the same time he’s just a champion.” Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs he told Fox News Digital. “He is an ambassador for freedom of expression. And he does it from a point of view that many of us don’t fully appreciate because we’ve always had the First Amendment here. But in Turkey, his country of origin, he didn’t have that.”
Staggs said the award encourages citizens to be “ambassadors for free speech and to speak out against injustice.”
“We are staunch and fervent defenders of our constitution and our Bill of Rights here in the city of Riverton,” Staggs added. “And as mayor, this is something that I want to be able to highlight and demonstrate the importance to our youth and to all of our citizens.”
NBA ALL-STAR TO PERFORM MANDATORY MILITARY SERVICE IN FINLAND DURING OFF-SEASON: ‘WE ARE PROUD OF IT’
Kanter, who was recently offered a $500,000 reward by Turkey for his capture, has long spoken out against human rights abuses in his home country.
But in October 2021, as a member of the boston celticsKanter Freedom turned his attention to China, calling the leader of the Chinese Communist Party a “brutal dictator” while advocating for an independent Tibet.
He did so wearing custom sneakers after Kanter Freedom said he had a conversation with a Chinese concentration camp survivor.
“I wanted to do it in a very colorful and unique way,” said Kanter Freedom. “Because when he was a kid he used to watch NBA games all the time, and the first thing he would look at was the shoes.
“So, I decided to reach out to artists all over the world and I came up with this idea to put all the fighting, all the torture of everything, in the shoes and go out there and play basketball.”
It drew immediate backlash for the NBA, with Chinese streaming service Tencent pulling Celtics games from Chinese media.
The NBA’s business with China is estimated to be approximately $5 billion, according to a May 2022 report from ESPN.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Kanter Freedom says he was pressured by the National Association of Basketball Players stop wearing the shoes, to which he finally gave in.
In some way.
In Boston’s next game, Kanter Freedom wore a different pair of custom shoes, this time with “Free Uyghur” written on them.
“They called me after the game [the NBPA] and said ‘You’re a liar. you lied to us I told him, ‘I didn’t lie to you. I did not wear Free Tibet shoes. I just wore Free Uyghur shoes.'”
Kanter Freedom would continue his campaign through the first few months of the 2021-22 season, calling out Nike, the NBA and superstar LeBron James for turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in China.
In February 2022, the Celtics traded Kanter Freedom to the houston rockets where he was promptly fired.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
He has not played in the NBA since then and tells Fox News Digital that no team has contacted him or his agent to inquire about his services.
“Of course, everyone knows that the NBA is excluding me because of the things that I stand for,” Kanter Freedom said.
During the 2020-21 season, Kanter Freedom averaged a double-double with the Portland Trail Blazersscoring 11.2 points and grabbing 11 rebounds per game.
At 30 years old, Kanter Freedom still has a desire to play basketball, but believes he won’t be given another chance.
“I’m healthy, I love basketball. I can play [for] another five years,” he said. “Another five, six years. Of course, I love basketball. I would like to continue playing basketball, but everyone knows that is not going to happen.
After he began speaking out against China, his agent told Kanter Freedom that if he continued, he would never receive another NBA contract.
But Kanter Freedom chose to continue speaking out for the innocent.
NBA HALL OF FAME SAYS MAVERICKS ‘MISSING A LEADER’ AS DALLAS TRIES TO KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE
“After air, water and food, I think freedom is the most important thing for human beings,” said Kanter Freedom. “And you don’t realize how important it is until someone comes along and takes it away from you. In my home country [of] Turkey, you tweet something against the government, you will be tortured and raped and you will be in jail for the rest of your life.
“The American people should feel very blessed to be in a country like this. Where you have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of protest, and freedom of movement. So don’t take it for granted. ”
After receiving the award at a news conference Wednesday, Kanter will hold a basketball skills camp at Riverton High School with an attendance of between 100 and 120 children.
“He’s a great athlete, he started his career here in Utah, but it’s not really his athletic prowess that he’s being recognized for,” Staggs told Fox News Digital. “He has to do with his commitment, his ambassadorship, if you will, for freedom of expression.
“In a way, we’ve entered this era of awakening, political correctness, and ideology, and you see some speech seems to be protected and free, while other speech gets really harsh condemnation,” Staggs continued. “I really hope that as a result of this, citizens can be really thoughtful and engage in speech, different kinds of speech, and really think for themselves and understand why some things are so protected right now and others aren’t.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the NBA and NBPA for comment and had not heard back by press time.