Enes Kanter to change his last name to 'Freedom,' passes US citizenship test

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.”

• 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

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