Enes Kanter Freedom eying congressional bid 'likely' in 2028
The former NBA star spoke with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Memphis
Enes Kanter Freedom teases future run for office
In an interview with Fox News Digital, former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom teased a potential run for office.
Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom is looking to pursue a whole new career path in the not too distant future.
There's been an appetite from lawmakers for Freedom, who had been an outspoken critic of China in recent years, to run for Congress, something he tells Fox News Digital in an interview he "will" do, just not in the current election cycle.
"I want to run in a state where they cherish and cares about freedom the most, you know, and also where there is a lot of sunshine and beach," Freedom chuckled. "I will say it's a little too early for me to run because right now, unfortunately, our country is so divided. Once you get into politics, you lose 50% of the people. So when the time is right, I'm definitely thinking about it- maybe [20]26 or [20]28, more likely 28."
"Every time I go to [Capitol] Hill to work on something, then all these members are saying like, ‘What are you waiting for? We need your voice. Bring your voice to the Congress or Senate and make a huge change.’ So I will be running in the future, but I think it's a little too early right now," Freedom added.
Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom tells Fox News Digital that he "will" run for office but likely in 2028. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
The Swiss-born, Turkish-raised athlete became a U.S. citizen in 2021 and changed his last name to Freedom to mark the new chapter in his life.
Speaking at last week's FreedomFest conference in Memphis, Tenn., Freedom was asked about political ambitions, which was quickly welcomed with cheers from the libertarian crowd.
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Fox News Digital asked Freedom if and when he does run for office, what would be his big three issues to focus on.
"Good question," Freedom responded. "I will say definitely education, number one, because if you want of a better and brighter future, we have to educate our kids. And I just want to show people that how blessed and how good we have it in this country. Freedom's definitely the other thing that I'm going to be working on and also bringing awareness. The third one, you know, we have a lot of censorship in this country, and we got to do whatever we can to beat that. So I'm just going to do whatever I can to just, you know, get rid of that."
Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom took the stage at the FreedomFest conference in Memphis, Tenn. on Wednesday July 12, 2023. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
2024 will mark the first presidential election that Freedom is eligible to vote in. He was a bit coy about sharing who his favorite candidate is but did tell Fox News Digital he has "met with many of them."
"I just hope that whoever is going to unite this country and whoever is going to make this country even better than it is wins," Freedom said.
Freedom says he had never "retired" from the NBA, which he first joined in 2011 when he was drafted for the Utah Jazz. But in 2022, he was essentially iced out of professional basketball for being a vocal opponent of China, which is a major market for the NBA. He finished his NBA career with the Boston Celtics.
One of his main messages while speaking at FreedomFest was that "we have to cancel cancel culture." Specifically pertaining to the NBA, Freedom told Fox News Digital players are "really afraid to speak up about the things that they believe" out of fear of losing their contracts and endorsement deals.
"More voices need to come out there and just be tough and be courageous and not be scared of the things that they want to talk about," Freedom said.
Freedom has certainly made his voice heard as a prominent a human rights advocate and a critic of censorship. He recently called out Twitter owner Elon Musk for allowing state-ordered censorship on its platform in Turkey ahead of its presidential election.
Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom was iced out of the NBA for being a vocal critic of China. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
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When asked about the souring patriotism Americans have in their country according to recent polls, Freedom recounted a locker room exchange he had with his teammates who were bashing the United States.
"They were calling America trash, and they were saying some really harsh things about America. And I stopped them. I was like, 'You know what, guys? The season is about to be over. And after the season, let me buy you a ticket and let's go to some of these countries out there like China, like Russia, like Iran, like Turkey, like North Korea," Freedom told Fox News Digital, "and if you guys even see that, if you guys are even gonna criticize them, you know, you guys will be in jail and tortured for that. So people need to understand that how good we have it in this country."
Fox News' Kira Mautone and David Unsworth contributed to this report.
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