Boston Celtics’ Enes Kanter, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and other NBA personalities, has announced his plan to change his last name to “Freedom.”
New country, new name: NBA Insider Shams Charania first broke the news of the 29-year-old Turkish athlete’s name change.
- The center, who will go by the full name of Enes Kanter Freedom, shared that his new last name “comes from what his teammates have been calling him.”
Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter is legally changing his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, @TheAthletic @Stadium learned. Kanter will be his middle name, Freedom is his new last name. He becomes a U.S. citizen on Monday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 28, 2021
- The official name change will happen after Kanter’s U.S. citizenship oath on Monday, his team’s manager, Hank Fetic, told the Associated Press.
- Kanter reportedly passed his citizenship test early last week.
Making headlines: Kanter has been making the news over the past month for his strong stance against the Chinese government and Nike’s alleged use of a Chinese factory linked to forced Uyghur.
- Kanter has called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator” and “insecure tyrant” in past tweets.
- He is also outspoken about several geopolitical issues involving China, most notably those about Tibet and Taiwan. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the Celtics player for showing his support in a video released early in November.
- Kanter has also called out several NBA personalities, including Los Angeles star LeBron James, retired NBA legend Michael Jordan and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai.
Featured Image via @eneskanter11
