Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom on being named in Turkey’s most-wanted list with $500,000 bounty: ‘That makes it so dangerous’

Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has said that the Turkish government is offering $500,000 for information leading to his capture and that has made things dangerous for him. In an interview with New York Post, Freedom said he found out about the bounty last week when his name was included on Turkey's most-wanted terrorists list for 2023.

All for money

"That makes it so dangerous," he said. "Before the bounty, Turkish intelligence were after the people on the list, but now everyone is after them because they want the money." Freedom said he wants to speak out now because of the other names on the list. "There are so many journalists, so many activists, and so many athletes, but they aren't as well-known as me. They are way easier targets — and they're alone out there," he explained.

Attack on Turkish prez

The NBA veteran has been outspoken against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He called Erdogan the "Hitler of our century" in 2017. He made the comment after saying he was stopped at a Romanian airport and was being detained by police officers because Turkey's embassy canceled his passport. Earlier, a Romanian border police spokesman told CNN that Freedom did get stopped, but he was never detained and was free to move around the airport. Almasy noted he eventually left on a flight to London and arrived in the United States one day later.

In November 2021, Freedom became a US citizen and legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom. He is a free agent since being waived by the Houston Rockets in February 2022, has said he thinks the NBA is blackballing him for speaking out about China's government for its ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghur people.