By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
NBA player Enes Freedom (previously Kanter) has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
“I’m honored and humbled to receive the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Freedom wrote on Twitter. “Sometimes taking a stand is more important than your next paycheck.”
In the same tweet, Freedom included a feature article by The Atlantic that focuses on the player’s humanitarian work and his outspokenness on the alleged human rights abuses in China and the treatment of Uighurs in particular.
According to the Atlantic story, a Norwegian Parliament member put Freedom up for nomination while 30 Nobel laureates issued a letter in which they asked the Boston Celtics – Freedom’s former club – to support him by standing with him “on the right side of history” and keeping him on the team.
The Celtics traded Freedom to the Houston Rockets on February 10 and the Turkish big man was waived four days later. He remains a free agent and recently said that he’s open to continuing his career in Greece.
A veteran of 11 NBA seasons, 29-year-old Freedom has played for such teams as the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers and the Celtics. He has career averages of 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds over 748 regular-season games.