Why did Enes Kanter change his name to Enes Freedom: All you need to know

Enes Freedom was the third pick in the 2011 NBA draft and went on to play 11 seasons in the league. The 30-year-old has played for five different franchises and has career averages of 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds.

While Enes Freedom had a rather successful career as an NBA big man, that is not what he is most known for. These days, he is mainly brought up for the fact that he changed his name. Originally, he was born Enes Kanter.

When and why did Enes Freedom change his name?

Enes Freedom made the decision to change his name during the 2021-22 season. When he was sworn in as a United States citizen, he adopted the new last name.

During an interview, Enes opened up on why he decided to change his name to Freedom. He said it symbolizes the fight for freedom that he went through early in his life.

"Here (in the U.S.), there is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press," he said. "I didn't have any of those with Turkey."

Throughout his life, Enes Freedom has bounced around. He was originally born in Switzerland, but his parents were Turkish. Following his birth, he was then raised in Turkey. The future NBA center then landed in the United States as a teenager.

Enes sported his name name on the back of his jersey for the first time during a Dec. 1, 2021, matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 17 minutes that night and tallied four points and seven rebounds.

Is Enes Freedom still in the NBA?

At 30 years old, Freedom still has something to offer an NBA team looking for frontcourt depth. He isn't the greatest defender, but he has proven to be a capable scorer over the years.

Currently, Freedom is a free agent. However, he is not far removed from being out of the league. The veteran big man most recently played for the Boston Celtics last season. Freedom played in 35 games and averaged 3.7 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Part of why Freedom might not find himself on a roster is because of his off-the-court actions. In the past, he has spoken out about his former home of Turkey as well as China. Teams likely don't want to take on that baggage for a role player.

In his last full season playing regular minutes, Freedom averaged 11.2 ppg and 11.0 rpg in 72 games for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2020-21.