Enes Freedom, who was waived by Houston on Monday, has become increasingly involved in political and social justice activism within the last year, taking aim in particular at China’s record on human rights. However, there’s a sense that if he doesn’t get picked up by an NBA team, it will be more about what he can do on the court than anything he has said off of it, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.
“I don’t know if anyone else signs him. Maybe not,” one general manager told Bulpett. “I think from a basketball standpoint, it’s really questionable. I’m not sure if any of the other stuff will even come into play. I don’t think he won’t get a job because of anything he’s said or done. I think he just doesn’t guard, and the game is changing. He plays a lot older than he really is.”
There are plenty of teams around the NBA with open roster spots, so there certainly could be one (or more) interested in bringing in Freedom as a bench scorer, despite his defensive shortcomings. If that doesn’t happen, the veteran center would apparently be open to playing in Europe, as Antigoni Zachari of Eurohoops relays.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The buyout market is beginning to show signs of life, with word breaking this morning that San Antonio and Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement. Before that deal was made, John Hollinger of The Athletic took a closer look at some of the buyout candidates who could shake free in the coming weeks — Dragic was the No. 3 player on Hollinger’s list.
- In a separate story for The Athletic, Hollinger handed out his trade deadline awards, dubbing the Kings‘ acquisition of Donte DiVincenzo the “biggest unexpected steal,” calling the Jazz‘s deal for Nickeil Alexander-Walker the deadline’s “most underwhelming trade,” and referring the Celtics‘ addition of Derrick White as the “trade we’ll talk about a lot more in April,” depending on how the rest of Boston’s season plays out.
- There’s a possibility Shaedon Sharpe could enter the 2022 NBA draft without playing a single college game, making him one of the most enigmatic prospects in years, according to Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link). Givony and Schmitz explore how NBA teams are evaluating Sharpe, noting that most clubs are preparing for Sharpe to declare for the draft despite John Calipari‘s claim that the freshman guard plans to be back with Kentucky in 2022/23.
- Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes an interesting, in-depth look at the creation of the NBA’s salary cap and Bird rights, explaining how they revolutionized the league.
For a guy who “plays old” and runs like he’s 50, this guy certainly is a offensive rebounding machine. Truly amazing desire and tenacity on the boards.
Side note, who would win in a 100-yard Sprint, this guy or LaMarcus Aldridge? What I do know is that during the race there will be a lot of arms flailing around LOL.
Steve Bulpett was tasked to carry the NBA’s water with this takedown article of Freedom (and, by extension, carry China’s water). This is a preemptive move to excuse the league’s blackballing of its largest political dissenter. Pathetic.
Lol buddy is getting his basketball news from infowars
I could see someone like Charlotte being interested in Kanter
Turkish Okafor is probably done in the league.
He definitely isn’t
Never say never, somehow Phoenix turned Bismack Biyombo into a functional player after a decade of nothingness.
He filled the same role on the Raptors one season. Then Orlando paid him too much money. Glad to see him back in the appropriate role for him. It’s amazing how often bad teams make that mistake in player evaluation.
If I were him I would definitely not play in Europe, where he is a bit more within reach of Erdoin.
I do not think he will be picked up by an NBA team, but anything is possible if there are injuries.
Would happily take Enes in Philly.
If not what about the Mavs sign him and Dragic, who also got brought out and go for the full European team with Doncic and Bertans
When he came out against China, that ended his NBA career. China stopped carrying his team, the Boston Celtics. Enes is no dummy, he knew what that meant. I admired him because he was standing tall & bravely for human rights & real freedom, even changing his last name when he became a naturalized US citizen.
BUT now Enes is going to speak at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) in front of a bunch of real right-wing, anti-freedom fascists.
Enes says he doesn’t care about sides. He’s against politics. But Enes this is not politics.
It’s about destroying democracy. And human rights Enes.
So is Freedom selling out or not?
Update:
Enes Freedom has now cancelled his CPAC appearance! Great! Hopefully he realizes he would be speaking against freedom, against human rights & for an authoritarian like in China, Turkey & Russia.
But then I saw Enes Freedom on a new FIRE (Freedom for Individual Rights in Education) ad Sunday morning on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS.
Tracing this so called “free speech” group it’s funded by right-winger Koch, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, all conservative right wing money.
So I repeat is Enes selling freedom out?
Seems like you made up your mind by association!
A bigger concern is, is he being used on an anti-Turkey (anti-Muslim) operation… and is he doing this to get some protection.
Good questions. Yes, I think Enes is being used by America’s big money. Maybe they promised to extend his NBA career as big money owns NBA teams. More likely Enes plans on going into politics thinking he’s for freedom while possibly not realizing he’s supported by Koch and other right wingers who are against human rights, freedom & democracy. I mean CPAC & FIRE are conservative groups although without a deep look Enes might have taken FIRE for an honest free speech group. The racist right wing may be playing Enid as a front man sucker. Or Enes as a Turk may harbor his own bigotry. Anyway. Freedom’s real stance should be revealed soon. Will be interesting. Hope he’s for real freedom!
Enes is a big distraction. He just needs a coach like Phil Jackson or Pat Riley to channel that energy into basketball production. The only question is his defense?