Enes Kanter Freedom has never been afraid to speak his mind. 

Last week the ex-NBA and former Boston Celtics player held a basketball clinic for children at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Manchester.

At 6-foot-10, the former center towered over the young players on the court. But he had more to discuss than how to play basketball.

“Whenever I organize a basketball camp, people from all kinds of backgrounds come and enjoy their time and then get to know each other and coexist, so that is the main goal,” said Kanter Freedom, who played on six NBA teams across a decade in the league.

More than once, he’s used his voice as a professional athlete to draw attention to human rights abuses around the world, a crusade he began when he was in the NBA.

“Sports are an amazing tool to reach out to kids out there in the world because once you play an NBA, you’re pretty much like a celebrity. They follow you religiously, they know what you’re doing every day, they follow your games,” Kanter Freedom said in Manchester.  “I think that athletes have an enormous reach and they have to use that platform to be a big voice and an educator.”

In 2013, while he was finding his footing in the NBA, he was deeply moved by a corruption scandal in his home country of Turkey. He began publicly criticizing the regime of President Tayyip Erdogan, which eventually led the Turkish government to issue an international arrest warrant for Kanter Freedom, revoke his citizenship, and place a $500,000 bounty on his head.

It was a price he said he was willing to pay.

“I was flattered by the bounty,” he said at a Q&A session before his clinic in Manchester. His decision to speak out was driven by a deep commitment to the principles of freedom and human rights—values he felt were denied to the people of Turkey but embodied in the United States, where he had moved years earlier to pursue his basketball career.

His activism didn’t stop with Turkey. In 2021, during his second stint with the Celtics, Kanter Freedom began speaking out against human rights abuses in China. He criticized the Chinese government’s actions in Tibet and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims, calling President Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator.” This drew sharp retaliation. All Celtics games were banned from television in China, and soon after, Kanter Freedom found himself out of the league. He claims the NBA blackballed him, a notion denied by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

In announcing his visit, the Lantos Foundation wrote on its website, “In an era where professional athletes live in fear of saying the wrong thing and losing coveted sponsor contracts or their spot on the roster, Mr. Kanter Freedom is the rare athlete who has used his platform and influence to stand up – and stand tall – for the causes he cares about, even when it puts him in the crosshairs of brutal regimes and cowardly sports franchises.”

His activism hasn’t come without sacrifice. After his NBA career ended, he chose not to pursue basketball abroad for fear of being arrested or extradited to Turkey. Instead, he has turned to advocacy, giving talks and organizing clinics across the country. These clinics bring together young people from diverse backgrounds, fostering unity through sport. Kanter Freedom recalls a memorable clinic in Israel, where Palestinian and Israeli children learned to trust one another through basketball.

Looking ahead, Kanter Freedom remains focused on his work as a human rights advocate. His primary concerns are China, Russia, and Iran, which he believes pose significant threats to global freedom. 

Kanter Freedom is also coming out with a memoir that explores growing up in Turkey, his journey to the NBA, and his human rights advocacy. He hopes to inspire other professional and aspiring athletes to speak on the issues they care about most.

His message to youth: “Be bigger than sports, be a good locker room guy, have a fun smile, always trying to bring positive energy, be a leader and whatever happens in life just never ever give up on your dreams. I think that is the one important thing.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com