Enes Kanter Freedom: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize why I got little playing time and was released...”

[Slax]

He is better than DeAndre Jordan I know that much.

If he brings a case to court, DeAndre Jordan is exhibit A-Z.

In the absence of any law saying that NBA teams that sign one garbage player are required to also sign a different slightly less garbage player, I'm not sure what you think he could successfully sue over.

[Dominator83]

I'm actually curious as to why he's a free agent still. Dude averaged 11 and 11 last year. I know he's not a starter, but geez. Not even on a team at all?

He’s in the awkward spot where he’s too old for a lottery team to give him minutes and his defense is too bad for any contending team to sign him. I can’t think of any team in the league who could use a guy like him.

Like, I would take Kelly Olynyk over him, and Kelly is still stuck in Detroit. That’s what the market is for an offensive big bench player.

Agree but actually , he's perfect for a tanking team. He'll put points on the board but always give back more, and teams can be like "look were not tanking, we signed a vet double-double machine" lol

[Zeno]

He is better than DeAndre Jordan I know that much.

If he brings a case to court, DeAndre Jordan is exhibit A-Z.

In the absence of any law saying that NBA teams that sign one garbage player are required to also sign a different slightly less garbage player, I'm not sure what you think he could successfully sue over.

It was a joke.

[Slax]

If he brings a case to court, DeAndre Jordan is exhibit A-Z.

In the absence of any law saying that NBA teams that sign one garbage player are required to also sign a different slightly less garbage player, I'm not sure what you think he could successfully sue over.

It was a joke.

Ah got it

[D.Brasco]

It's an unpopular sentiment these days, but sometimes you're not a victim, you're just incompetent.

11/11 a game in 24 minutes should be enough to make any NBA roster.

[GeorgeSears]

He's a good enough player to be a solid backup on a team that needs one. You can do a whole lot worse than Kanter.

What the NBA teams are going to struggle to come to terms with is if he's worth the baggage as just a backup center.

Unfortunately, it's the same thing that happened to Kaepernick. He was good enough to be in the NFL, but not good enough to carry the drama with him.

[oversteerdawg]

It's an unpopular sentiment these days, but sometimes you're not a victim, you're just incompetent.

11/11 a game in 24 minutes should be enough to make any NBA roster.

His offensive production has never been a problem. The problem is he is non-existent on defense in a position that needs to be the defensive anchor. It's like a point guard that is decent on defense, but can't shoot or run an offense.

[King Of The 4th]

I appreciate Enes for speaking out in defense of the Uyghurs, but it's unfortunate he's allowed it to overinflate his ego to the point where he's essentially blackballed himself from the league. If he was willing to accept a third string role without accusing the Celtics coaching staff of censorship when he had a stretch of DNP's, he'd probably be on an NBA roster somewhere.

[dans1230]

I appreciate Enes for speaking out in defense of the Uyghurs, but it's unfortunate he's allowed it to overinflate his ego to the point where he's essentially blackballed himself from the league. If he was willing to accept a third string role without accusing the Celtics coaching staff of censorship when he had a stretch of DNP's, he'd probably be on an NBA roster somewhere.

Well said, most people are on his side of that argument, but the more he saw himself on tv talking about it the more and more impressed he became with himself. Seems its more about him spreading the message than it is the message itself.
With all that said, if he wasnt an absolute sieve on defense hed have a place on any roster. He cant move his feet on defense and in todays NBA where its all about switching, hes unplayable.

[JayMKE]

I can buy teams don't want the headache or to deal with the China problem but slow bigs who can't shoot just aren't very valuable in today's NBA either. There a lot of talented bigs who have been out of the league for years now without the excess baggage, look at Greg Monroe for example.

[Knightfall]

Wonder if he would take a contract to play for the Lakers?

[CobraCommander]

Deleting repeat sorry

[Fairview4Life]

Hasn't Boston gone like 15-3 without him?

[CobraCommander]

I hate the whole "Im being blackballed" angle these guys take. This isnt political, this isnt a racial thing, this isnt a religious thing. Its very basic and simple. If your production on the court/field outweighs the off the court/field circus/distraction then teams will put up with you.

Guess what Tim Tebow would have been a backup or 3rd string QB for awhile if there was no Tebow circus with him. But there was way too much of a distraction with him and he wasn't that good on the field so his career ended very quickly.

If Colin Kaepernick was still Colin Kaepernick of 2013, he would've still had a job in the NFL. But Kaepernick ended up being a bad starting QB over his last 3 years in the NFL. He ended up being benched for freaking Blaine Gabbert. Was he still good enough to be on a NFL roster? Yup. But guess what, no one wants a backup QB that will bring a media circus and distraction to your team. So the distraction outweighed the impact. And if Enes was still a 24/11 on high end efficiency for per 36, he would still be on a roster right now.

There are countless more examples especially with the NFL diva WRs where teams put up with over the top diva WRs while they're still elite, but the second they're no longer elite they get passed around because no one wants them. Meyers Leonard would still be on a roster if he didnt do his dumbass thing.

There are countless examples of guys of different races, different political views and so on. None of these guys were blackballed. The common denominator for all of them is that their off court distractions outweighed their on the court/field production/impact. Its as simple as that. Teams try to avoid distractions when they can, they're not going to take on bench players that bring distractions to the team. Its pretty simple.

Kap was still better than maybe 20-50% of the QBs when he was out of the league. RG3 was still in league and others- hell Carson Wentz, Hurts and a ton of other QBs play now that are bubble guys.

I love that you added Tebow to the Kap argument because they were both black balled so to speak by the NFL - but anyone saying Kap was NOT kicked out for kneeling is being intentionally disengenous or doesn’t understand delta between the absolute best and absolute worse starting QBs in nfl.

Kaps worse days were not the worse nfl Qb days of recent time and he has good upside potential -

but the owners made a choice and we all saw it. Unpopular to be perceived as against the flag or police or military in the NFL that promotes justified violence as a product and shrouds it in honor and Christianity. Kap was attacking who the nfl sees as their core market-

Enes- same thing. He is taking the most unpopular stances for the NBA. Taking on their growth market in China and other stances. Plus he attacking their most popular product… LEBRON JAMeS?!?!

Lebron leads on ESPN and Fox…. Had a movie and is a billionaire player and proxy agent. And Enes- decent bubble player (don’t hate) is on FOX ATTACKING LEBRON and thus attacking the league.

When trump was anti KAP he asked his base to turn off the games and it worked and it scared owners… You think the NBA didn’t see that and quietly say, we don’t need Enes making Americans stop watching our product.

You can take a stand in america but expect it to cost you money. It’s freedom of speech and freedom from
Government consequences but financially expect there to be ramifications if you take a stance against the system -

Enes should be proud of his stance and proud that it was so provocative that it cost him his job… means he might have a point…

[CobraCommander]

Deleting repeat sorry

[pro24]

I think Kap was the 30th to 45th ranked QB while he was being "blackballed."

I know at least Denver offered him a contract but it wasn't enough for him, Kap wanted to be paid like a top ten QB, not a good backup's salary. With Nike, Kap was making more than he would in the NFL by being a "martyr". So I think it's reasonable to assume that he didn't want to return unless he got paid more than he was worth by a good margin. And by not playing he gets to continue the mostly fake narrative of being blackballed.

Enes Freedom is probably around the 300th best player in the league. The NBA has the most Authoritarian political culture of any sport in the US. Someone who exposes their hypocritical fake Liberal, fake Activist nature is not good business for them.

[Fencer reregistered]

It doesn’t take a genius, it’s because you suck at the game of basketball.

Right. Three things:

1. He was just a minimum salary player as of the offseason.

2. He was much worse this season than in recent years.

3. Both the Celtics (scheme) and Rockets (development/tanking) were particularly bad fits for him.


The only way he's got screwed in all this was the bad luck of the Celtics changing personnel course and jettisoning almost all their veteran offseason pickups by the trade deadline -- Schroeder, Richardson, Juancho, We Don't Talk About Bruno, and Enes alike.

[Fencer reregistered]

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[Jadoogar]

Way too many people turning a blind eye to China’s injustices

Uyghur people deserve much more on a humanitarian level from the world

This is absolutely true.
This is also not the reason Enes Kanter isn't playing

Both things can be true.

[cbosh4mvp]

Maybe turning into a wingnut who hangs out with disgraced neoconservatives and right wing propogandists isnt making him that many friends either.

You mention neoconservatism and i wondered what that meant because as a conservative, I felt that this was your way to disqualify conservatives. I looked up the definition of this and it doesnt seem so terrible...

'Neoconservatism arose in the United States in the 1970s among intellectuals who shared a dislike of communism and a disdain for the counterculture of the 1960s, especially its political radicalism and its animus against authority, custom, and tradition.'

Are you in favor of communism? I think most hardworking Americans are tired of woke progressive liberals who keep pushing their own narratives and brainwashing. Remember, if a corporate company is making a change, its not because they care, its because they are pandering to you. Simpleton.