NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was waived last week shortly after being traded. He now alleges he was forced out of the league to appease Communist Chinese authorities.
Whether that is true or not, he certainly has a better case than former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick did when he claimed he was blackballed.
Freedom was cut by the Houston Rockets shortly after they acquired him from the Boston Celtics. The move was a salary dump for the Rockets, who unloaded Daniel Theis and his four-year $35.6 million contract while they rebuild. Freedom, a 29-year-old center who plays poor defense, was not going to fit a rebuilding Rockets team.
Freedom’s minutes had been slashed this year by the Celtics, likely due to their defensive identity (they are the second-best defensive team in the league). The Celtics also played Freedom less than his career average when he was with the team during the 2019-20 season, even before he began speaking out about China’s human rights abuses. From the perspective of both the Celtics and the Rockets (who are nonetheless notoriously bad when it comes to appeasing China), everything checks out.
But if Freedom remains unemployed, he certainly has a good argument the other teams are shunning him because of China. With the middling Portland Trailblazers last year, Freedom averaged 24 minutes per game, scoring 11 points and bringing in 11 rebounds (8th best in the league that season) on an average night. In terms of advanced stats, his 2020-21 season was in line with most of his career. When he plays, he provides some energy on offense and is a solid rebounder, which should make him a quality role player on most teams.
The juxtapositions between him and Kaepernick are clear. Freedom was playing on a one-year $2.6 million contract this season. Kaepernick refused a pay cut to his six-year $114 million contract, which led the Denver Broncos to drop out of trade discussions. Freedom was waived by the Rockets, whereas Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
Kaepernick played a more important position and played it at a below-average level. The quarterback position is rigid and competitive. At best, Kaepernick projected as a low-level starter who couldn’t lead a playoff team. NBA rotations are more fluid and flexible, and Freedom played significant minutes last year for a playoff team.
And, of course, Freedom did not sabotage future playing opportunities to the degree Kaepernick did. From mourning the deaths of terrorists to his girlfriend publicly denigrating the owner of the Baltimore Ravens to moving his highly publicized workout at the last second and causing several teams to miss it, Kaepernick has torched every opportunity since the 49ers tried to trade him to Denver. The same simply can’t be said for Freedom, whose biggest sins are criticizing a genocidal regime and generally playing poor defense.
Whether Freedom ends up on a roster by the end of this season or the start of next year, he has shown he can still play at a level that can help playoff teams, something Kaepernick did not show as he flamed out of the league. Hopefully, another team reaches out to him before next season starts. Otherwise, Freedom has a legitimate complaint with a league that kowtows to China at every turn.
