Enes Kanter Freedom says he became the first NBA player nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. He says the recognition followed years of activism that began in 2013, after corruption allegations engulfed the Turkish government.
He also says his work carried a personal cost. His father lost his position as a scientist, was detained, and had his passport revoked, while his sister struggled to find work after medical school and his younger brother lost basketball opportunities because of the family name.
Turkey and the family pressure
Freedom says the pressure began after he spoke out against what he described as Turkish authorities fighting free media and putting innocent journalists in jail. He said, “If you’re fighting against free media and putting innocent journalists in jail, I’m going to say something,” tying his public criticism to a broader human rights argument rather than a sports dispute.
He said the response spread beyond him. Relatives publicly disowned him to protect themselves from government pressure, and he said authorities targeted members of his family. Freedom said, “Once they put my dad in jail, I knew there was no coming back,” drawing a hard line between public advocacy and the personal consequences that followed.
America, California and Kentucky
Freedom’s path to that point moved through America, California and Kentucky. He said he attended high school in California, played college basketball at Kentucky, and became the third overall pick in the NBA Draft before later describing basketball as a tool for his advocacy.
He said the message began even earlier, when neighborhood children handed him an American flag and a lighter in Turkey when he was 9 years old. He recalled thinking, “I looked down and thought, ‘This is not the right thing to do,’” and said his mother told him, “I’m not going to tell you what to do, but do not hate anyone before you meet them.”
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy
In 2022, Freedom added another public marker to that record when he received the Courage Award from the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. In the same year, he became an American citizen and said he expanded his advocacy beyond Turkey to human rights abuses around the world.
He framed his use of the NBA plainly: “Basketball was a tool for me,” and, “I always asked myself, ‘How can I use this platform to be the voice of innocent people who don’t have a voice?’” The next unresolved issue is the one he raises himself: what exactly led Turkish authorities to place a bounty on him and revoke his passport.
