Speaker 1: I love this country. I love being an American, but
Speaker 1: having grown up here, we've seen our freedoms being increasingly
Speaker 1: taken away. We've seen the increase of censorship. We saw
Speaker 1: during COVID lockdowns, forced vaccinations, things taking place that are
Speaker 1: contradictory to what we believe as a country. But with
Speaker 1: all that being said, it's important to get perspective. It's
Speaker 1: important to talk to people who have truly experienced authoritarianism,
Speaker 1: and one of those individuals is Ennis Cantor Freedom. I
Speaker 1: had the ability to meet him at Fox News Patriot Awards,
Speaker 1: where he received an award the Most Valuable Patriot Award
Speaker 1: for his human rights stances for standing up for freedom.
Speaker 1: He grew up in Turkey, came to the United States
Speaker 1: at just seventeen years old. But he has drawn the
Speaker 1: ire of the NBA, he's drawn the ire of companies
Speaker 1: like Nike because he actually has put his money where
Speaker 1: his mouth is. He has stood up for freedom. He
Speaker 1: has spoken out against human rights abuses being taken place
Speaker 1: against the weaker population at the hands of the Chinese
Speaker 1: Communist Party, and that's not been well received by some
Speaker 1: of his colleagues. So what is it like to have
Speaker 1: truly grown up with authoritarianism, to truly have seen authoritarianism.
Speaker 1: He's seen retribution being taken against his family, against him
Speaker 1: by the Turkish government, against Irwin for speaking out. He's
Speaker 1: faced personal and professional retribution in the n b A,
Speaker 1: he got kicked out for his stances. So we're going
Speaker 1: to talk to him to get true perspective, talk to
Speaker 1: him about what that is like and why freedom is
Speaker 1: so important and it's worth preserving, it's worth fighting for.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I
Speaker 1: did with Ennis Cantor Freedom. Yeah, and as I got
Speaker 1: to beat you at the Fox News Patriot Awards, and
Speaker 1: it was so cool to see you get rewarded because
Speaker 1: you have been such a fearless advocate for freedom in
Speaker 1: so many ways. You faced personal repercussions for it, professional
Speaker 1: repercussions for What does that mean to you to receive
Speaker 1: the most Valuable Patriot Award? Yeah? The last five six months,
Speaker 1: I've definitely have been getting so many awards, but that
Speaker 1: one was definitely the most special one. I think what
Speaker 1: made it so special was, you know, when I received awards,
Speaker 1: seeing all the crowds reaction, it was just so I
Speaker 1: don't know how to describe it with wards was so amazing,
Speaker 1: so unbelievable. So it's really touched my heart. You know,
Speaker 1: that crowd has got up and started champing freedom. And
Speaker 1: I had so many messages right after the event and
Speaker 1: saying we are your family, you are welcoming off Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 1: This is you know, we are our new we want
Speaker 1: to host you now. So it was like unbelievable feeling.
Speaker 1: You know, I think more than the ward, that feeling
Speaker 1: was just the most special thing of the night. Well,
Speaker 1: I believe people just respect you so much because we
Speaker 1: always see these athletes in the NBA and the NFL
Speaker 1: who purport to believe in things right. They purport to
Speaker 1: believe in human rights and all these different things, but
Speaker 1: then in reality they want that money, right, They want
Speaker 1: the income from Nike. They you know, they don't actually
Speaker 1: want to put the money where their their mouth is,
Speaker 1: but you do, and you have why do you think
Speaker 1: so many athletes are really actually afraid to stand up
Speaker 1: for the things they say they care about. You know,
Speaker 1: the last thing when I was started to, you know,
Speaker 1: talk about the problems we're happening in China, I wished
Speaker 1: out I wish out to everybody, not only my teammates.
Speaker 1: But you know, it was the perfect moment because it
Speaker 1: was right before the Beijing Olympics. So I literally try
Speaker 1: to reach out to not just people in NBA or
Speaker 1: my teammates, but NFL, MLB, MLS. I even try to
Speaker 1: reach out to or some Olympians. They all told me
Speaker 1: the same thing. They said, Listen, I think what you're
Speaker 1: doing is so amazing, so inspirational. Keep doing what you're
Speaker 1: doing so brave, but we love you with supportable We
Speaker 1: just cannot do it out loud. I asked them why.
Speaker 1: They said, well, we have shoe deals, we have endorsement deals.
Speaker 1: We want to get another contract. And I asked them
Speaker 1: one simple question. I was like, put yourself in their shoes.
Speaker 1: If your mother, if your daughter, if your sister, or
Speaker 1: whoever was getting torture and rate every day in concentration camps,
Speaker 1: which is still pick money over your morals, values and principles,
Speaker 1: and they usually turn around and leave. You know. I
Speaker 1: talked to many of my teammates. Unfortunately, not one of
Speaker 1: them I wanted to stand with me, you know, but
Speaker 1: when it comes to every other issue in the world,
Speaker 1: that they are the first one or the first organization,
Speaker 1: the NBA. They just go out there and just say
Speaker 1: things about what's happening. I don't even remember, you know,
Speaker 1: my uh you know teammates were wearing the Ukrainian flag
Speaker 1: pins on their on their chest when right after the
Speaker 1: you know, the war started in Ukraine. Um I was like,
Speaker 1: this is so hypocratical because if just God whole by
Speaker 1: think about if China, Taiwan. I promise you all the
Speaker 1: teal or all these companies, all these athletes, players or
Speaker 1: whoever would not say a word about it because they
Speaker 1: know the consequences that they will face. Quick commercial break
Speaker 1: more with edis cantor well and for people at home,
Speaker 1: if you're you're unfamiliar. Um And has has done things
Speaker 1: like when he was in the NBA wearing shoes that
Speaker 1: said things like free Tibet and calling out Nike for
Speaker 1: using the weaker population. Who are you know there's a
Speaker 1: genocide against them in China using Nike of slave labor,
Speaker 1: which is what they've done. Uh you know, I mean
Speaker 1: there is a cost to that though you know you're
Speaker 1: no longer in the NBA. Uh, I mean what does
Speaker 1: that tell you? I mean, at the end of I'm
Speaker 1: still closing a must have an NBA player does. That
Speaker 1: is one of the biggest reasons that I did not
Speaker 1: and asked my retirement because I'm not retired, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just starting thirty. I can play another five six
Speaker 1: series in this league. So um, I mean that basketball
Speaker 1: was my passion. Basketball was my dream, especially to play
Speaker 1: in the NBA since I was a little kid, since
Speaker 1: the first day that I picked up the basketball. But
Speaker 1: I mean, I was just seeing the hypocrisy. I was
Speaker 1: just seeing how people are using this, this the social
Speaker 1: justice warrior title to make a name for themselves, you know,
Speaker 1: because I remember two years ago when they put us
Speaker 1: in an NBA bubble for over eighty days and and
Speaker 1: being was like, it is all about the social justice.
Speaker 1: It is all about you know, things that that things
Speaker 1: that are bigger than basketball. I was like, okay, fine,
Speaker 1: you know, the kneeling and then talking about this issue
Speaker 1: that issue. Fine, But then two years later this happened,
Speaker 1: and people are picking and choosing what's happening. And I
Speaker 1: told him, like, human assuming it doesn't matter that you
Speaker 1: know the things are happening in America or anywhere else,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, I mean, yes, it did come a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, consequences. I pretty much you know,
Speaker 1: past my job. But I feel like someone had to
Speaker 1: open that door. Someone had to open that door because
Speaker 1: I was like, not not only in the NBA, but
Speaker 1: you see Hollywood, Um, I guess Wall Street Academias, big
Speaker 1: Tag Congress, and local congress that are being run by
Speaker 1: the Chinese government. I was like, you know what enough
Speaker 1: to see now someone had to say stuff to this
Speaker 1: uh big mess and ione out then spoke up. But
Speaker 1: you know, even beyond the professional aspect of it, you know,
Speaker 1: right now we're we're seeing in the World Cup you
Speaker 1: have Iranian soccer players. The team captain spoke spoken support
Speaker 1: of protests that are happening uh in his own country,
Speaker 1: saying that you know, we support the protests, we support them,
Speaker 1: and we sympathize with them regarding the conditions. And as
Speaker 1: a result, their families are being threatened back home, being
Speaker 1: threatened with torture, imprisonment. But this is something that you've
Speaker 1: experienced with speaking out against Urdawan and your own government.
Speaker 1: Intern Well, now you're an American, but when you know,
Speaker 1: growing up in Turkey, of of calling out Urtawan, your
Speaker 1: family has faced retribution for that there was an ex
Speaker 1: edition request for your life and for you so so
Speaker 1: talk about sort of that experience with uh, you know,
Speaker 1: having that fear of you know, your government back home
Speaker 1: wanting to to do harm to your family and to you.
Speaker 1: Of course I'm back in two thousand Ceartain there was
Speaker 1: a coruscious scandal happening searching and it was the first
Speaker 1: time that I said something about it, you know, um
Speaker 1: and because of the NBA platform, and became a conversation
Speaker 1: in the United States and in Turkey, and I was like,
Speaker 1: even one simple you know, either tweet or interview, you
Speaker 1: can affect as much from now and I'm going to
Speaker 1: start pay attention about what's going on in my country.
Speaker 1: More so, I started to study and started to you know,
Speaker 1: speak up. And the more I talked about it, the more, um,
Speaker 1: you know, they put pressure on me and my family.
Speaker 1: You know, my dad was a scientist. You got fired
Speaker 1: from his job. My sister went to medical school for
Speaker 1: six years. She still cannot find a job. Actually, until
Speaker 1: this day, my little brother was playing basketball. He literally
Speaker 1: got kicked on every every team. Um. They were getting
Speaker 1: affected so much they had to put a statement out
Speaker 1: there and saying we are disowning and as publicly the
Speaker 1: lot of still lot that actually on the internet. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they the government, Turkish government didn't believe that.
Speaker 1: They sent police to my house in Turkey and they
Speaker 1: raided the whole house and they took every electronics away
Speaker 1: because they wanted to see if I am still in
Speaker 1: contact with my family or not. And they couldn't find
Speaker 1: no evidence, but they still took my dad in jail
Speaker 1: for a while, and then you know, they revoke my passport,
Speaker 1: put my name on into polars. Um. That's what That's
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to show, like my teammates, that's what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to show people in America. Like I understand,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying anyone is perfect in the country is perfect,
Speaker 1: but I really want to take my teammates buy their
Speaker 1: ticket right taking to these countries like China, like Russia, Iran,
Speaker 1: or Korea and Aziel Cuba, and I can go on
Speaker 1: and on, you know, and say, listen, you couldn't decide
Speaker 1: this country and that you know here, but look at Iran,
Speaker 1: look at China, look at Russia, look at North Korea,
Speaker 1: look at it as you are like Cuba who have
Speaker 1: or Turkey you know, Um, you know, the athletes definitely
Speaker 1: needs to speak up more about what's going on because
Speaker 1: I mean, they're one word could affect and inspire millions
Speaker 1: of kids. Um, it's important. Well, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: also important because you know, I am an America and
Speaker 1: I grew up here. But you know, we we do
Speaker 1: see sort of you know, censorship and things like that
Speaker 1: increasing in our country, and it's important to know the
Speaker 1: purpose and what's important about freedom so that we preserve it.
Speaker 1: So you know, what would you tell people as someone
Speaker 1: who has really experienced authoritarianism in a real, real way,
Speaker 1: in a way that we haven't yet, thank god here
Speaker 1: in America, But you know, we fear that happening. What's
Speaker 1: the purpose of freedom, what's the importance of it? Why
Speaker 1: should it be preserved? Yeah, things can change so quickly.
Speaker 1: I remember that things that were happening in my home
Speaker 1: country church Yell. I was like, no, this is one
Speaker 1: of the most modern Muslim country in the world, that
Speaker 1: things won't get worse, And it literally changed in like
Speaker 1: few years. So I feel like, start taking off freedom
Speaker 1: for you know, uh, granted, and we don't. We don't
Speaker 1: if we don't educate ourselves things can turn not very
Speaker 1: quickly in a bad way. Um No, it's it's like
Speaker 1: I remember, like I agree. So I'll give you guys
Speaker 1: some examples so that whoever listening to this can understand
Speaker 1: way better. My manager's wife is Turkish and her death
Speaker 1: liked one of my tweet on Twitter. He was in
Speaker 1: jail for certain days. This is how crazy that he
Speaker 1: can get, you know, Um, that is only one. There
Speaker 1: are so many other people that are that who was
Speaker 1: supporting me was in jail right now. And the crazy
Speaker 1: thing is, I don't know. I never talked about politics.
Speaker 1: I talk about human rights. I talk about human rights,
Speaker 1: I talk about freedom of speech, fremo religion, I talk
Speaker 1: about democracy. Um, so things needed to turn out bad
Speaker 1: very quickly. So that's why I feel like we have
Speaker 1: to educate ourselves and we have to do what we're
Speaker 1: supposed to do to, you know, just go out there
Speaker 1: and live our freedom. And as you're talking about, you've
Speaker 1: not made this political. It's just the inherent human desire
Speaker 1: for for freedom and for you know, human rights. And
Speaker 1: one thing that really got you when you're talking on
Speaker 1: stage at the Patriot Awards is you're talking about when
Speaker 1: you were young in Turkey and how your friends were
Speaker 1: burning American crosses and American flags and they encouraged you
Speaker 1: to take partner, but you were like, I don't know
Speaker 1: if this is right. And you went to your mom
Speaker 1: and you said, Mom, this is what's happening, you know,
Speaker 1: talk about that and sort of just this inherent desire
Speaker 1: and people for for goodness and a desire for for freedom.
Speaker 1: So yeah, if you're if you're a politician in Turkey, right,
Speaker 1: the first thing you do, if you want to be
Speaker 1: elected again, the first thing you do that you attack,
Speaker 1: your tack America, you attack Israel, your attack to us.
Speaker 1: The base is just so uneducated. Unfortunately, they just don't
Speaker 1: know any better. So every time whenever the politicians hold
Speaker 1: their rally or doing interview, the first thing they do
Speaker 1: they attack, and the base is like, wow, look at
Speaker 1: our leader that's standing toll against you know, strong countries
Speaker 1: like America, Israel or days of that, right, Uh, which
Speaker 1: it's not true. They don't. They just all they do
Speaker 1: is just talk um. That affects millions of kids in
Speaker 1: the country because all they do is just see propaganda
Speaker 1: in TV, on the streets all realities all day. So
Speaker 1: when I went downstairs to play with my friends. They
Speaker 1: were you know, they were burning flags. They were burning
Speaker 1: American flags, and it's really flags. They were breaking crosses.
Speaker 1: And that's why it was so important to be coming
Speaker 1: from an educated family. They're like, you know, this is
Speaker 1: not the right thing to do. Meet with people first
Speaker 1: and then decide if they're good or bad. So that's
Speaker 1: why I was like, promise, I'm not gonna you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say who's good or bad to like
Speaker 1: meet them. So when I come to America for the
Speaker 1: first time, I met mom, like, these are one of
Speaker 1: the like the most nicest and freedom loving and democracy
Speaker 1: love of people that I ever met. And I visited
Speaker 1: over fifty six count around the world, you know, um,
Speaker 1: so I just hope that people can see this in
Speaker 1: America quick break, trust me, you're gonna want to stay
Speaker 1: with us. You're seventeen when you came to America. Was
Speaker 1: that it was seventeen, correct, Yeah, for the first time
Speaker 1: I came here when I was seventeen. What was that like,
Speaker 1: you know, as a seventeen year old to go to
Speaker 1: an entirely new country kind of what was that experience
Speaker 1: like for you? It was very scary because I think
Speaker 1: about this, that you grew up in a country where
Speaker 1: the whole your whole life, the whole seventy years of life,
Speaker 1: the only here is propaganda. All you here is how
Speaker 1: bad Americans are, how evil the Americans. You know that.
Speaker 1: That's what That's what you'll hear. My family was so educated,
Speaker 1: Like you know what, the best the best way to
Speaker 1: get your education is not Turkey, going America, learning other language,
Speaker 1: learn different cultures, learn uh, met with people that decide
Speaker 1: they're good or bad, you know. So that's why they
Speaker 1: sent me here. When I was seventeen innute, I remember
Speaker 1: I landed for the first time, I landed in Chicago.
Speaker 1: I am so nervous. I just don't know what's going
Speaker 1: on and people I'm looking at the people weird. I
Speaker 1: just don't know if they are good or bad, or
Speaker 1: what they're gonna do to me and stuff. But the
Speaker 1: more that the more that you talk to people, you
Speaker 1: get to know people you give a chance. They're like
Speaker 1: I was like that one of the nicest people. They're
Speaker 1: asking me if I need to go to a masque.
Speaker 1: They asked me if I want to eat some holal food.
Speaker 1: They're asking me to some places that where I can
Speaker 1: live my culture and religious Really, I was like, this
Speaker 1: is so amazing, you know. Um, I think that the
Speaker 1: one thing that I've seen in America that amazed me
Speaker 1: the most is how much people spake each other up.
Speaker 1: And that's what I said from my teammates, uh and
Speaker 1: some some American friends, and I gave me so much hope.
Speaker 1: At the same time, it broke my heart because there
Speaker 1: are over million people I lives in Turkey and there
Speaker 1: are other millions of hundreds of millions of people that
Speaker 1: lives in the Middle East. Every day, these kids are
Speaker 1: growing up with this propaganda. So and not many of
Speaker 1: them trust me when I say not many of them
Speaker 1: has come from an educated family, so they're growing up
Speaker 1: without knowing what America is about. That they're growing up
Speaker 1: very anti Semitic, very entire West, very anti American. Um.
Speaker 1: So that's why it breaks my heart every day that
Speaker 1: no one that these kids, you know, could be a
Speaker 1: threat or to be very dangerous for for for the West,
Speaker 1: just because of the politicians, just because of how they
Speaker 1: grew up and stuff. Um. So that's why I'm trying
Speaker 1: to find ways to change that. Well, I believe you
Speaker 1: are and I have an immense matter of respect for you.
Speaker 1: You've actually, you know, sacrificed for for freedom in a
Speaker 1: way that so many people are too afraid to do.
Speaker 1: So it's incredibly honor roll. So you should be so
Speaker 1: proud of what you've done. I read that SpongeBob and
Speaker 1: Jersey Shore helps you learn English. I'm sorry about the
Speaker 1: Jersey Shore. It is. I'm not sure if that's the
Speaker 1: best example of America, but oh god, so I'll tell
Speaker 1: you the study it is. Actually, so first time I
Speaker 1: remember came to America, I was in college. I went
Speaker 1: to the University of Kentucky. So, like, I let me say,
Speaker 1: I'm like trying to learn English, and I have a
Speaker 1: lot of tutors and going to class and stuff. Unlike
Speaker 1: the it's just not the English that I wanted to learn.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to learn in English so where I
Speaker 1: can communicate with my teammates, my coaches and my friends,
Speaker 1: you know. So one day I asked my one of
Speaker 1: my team and I was like, Hey, I really want
Speaker 1: to get to like, you know, learn about like the
Speaker 1: American culture and the street language that they speaking in
Speaker 1: all the streets and stuff. Tell me a show that
Speaker 1: I can watch where I can't just you know, because
Speaker 1: like watching the TV or like movie whatever with subtitle
Speaker 1: is the best way to one of the best ways
Speaker 1: you can last darn English, he said, I go, Actually,
Speaker 1: I got the best show for you. I was like,
Speaker 1: what is it? He said, Jersey Show. I thought, okay,
Speaker 1: I had no idea what the show was. I started
Speaker 1: watching Jersey Show. The first episode, the second episode, all
Speaker 1: but this is the crazieste uh yeah, Like if this
Speaker 1: is what America is about, they have a problem. Uh Well,
Speaker 1: later on I learned that it's not about assurance stuff.
Speaker 1: It was just a funny funny that's hilarious. I love that.
Speaker 1: I love two and in one, Uh, you became an
Speaker 1: American citizen. You change your name to Freedom, which I love.
Speaker 1: Your last name to Freedom. Is there anything else you
Speaker 1: want to leave us with before we go? And us
Speaker 1: I can't hear. When I was when I was seventeen,
Speaker 1: back in two thousand nine, I had a practice. I
Speaker 1: wasn't I was in prep school. I had a practice.
Speaker 1: And after the practice, you know, all all my teammates
Speaker 1: just sitting down in the locker room just well on
Speaker 1: our phone and stuff, and I s one of my
Speaker 1: one of the posts that my teammate posted on on Facebook,
Speaker 1: he was criticized in the president. I immediately turned around.
Speaker 1: I was like, dude, what are you doing. And he's like,
Speaker 1: what happened. I was like, I saw your post. He said, okay.
Speaker 1: I was like, well, you know, you might be in
Speaker 1: jail tomorrow. They might come and take you away. And
Speaker 1: he's like, the all my team I started to laugh
Speaker 1: because they know the environment that I came from, and
Speaker 1: they said listen to don't worry about it. This is
Speaker 1: not Turkey, this is American. And I was very confused.
Speaker 1: So we all sit down and we we started to
Speaker 1: talk about the freedom we having this country. Freedom of speech,
Speaker 1: religion expression, freedom of protests. Just because of you say something,
Speaker 1: you don't go to jails, your family won't be torturing stuff.
Speaker 1: And I was like, I thought they were just talking
Speaker 1: to a different language because I was so it was
Speaker 1: just so random, and you know, and uh, the more
Speaker 1: I grew up in this country, you know that I
Speaker 1: became my twenties, early twenties, late twenties, and I was like,
Speaker 1: this is the best thing that the God ever given
Speaker 1: to this country, to freedom. I want to put that
Speaker 1: behind my Jersey and literally inspire millions of kids out
Speaker 1: there and just carry that word everywhere. Were with me. Um.
Speaker 1: The last thing I will say is, uh, whoever listening
Speaker 1: to this, we definitely do our part to make this
Speaker 1: country better. It doesn't matter you're Muslim, Christian, white, black,
Speaker 1: or whoever you are. We only have one America and
Speaker 1: we need to make this country better together. So that's
Speaker 1: my message. I love that, and it's always good to
Speaker 1: get perspective. You know, we've got to preserve freedom. We've
Speaker 1: got a fight for it. And as cantor freedom, you're awesome.
Speaker 1: Deep deep respect for you and your voice. Thank you
Speaker 1: for what you do, thank you for being you, and
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining the show. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much. I appreciate that. H H. What a remarkable guy. Uh.
Speaker 1: That was really cool to have that conversation with him.
Speaker 1: I I deeply respect what he's done and the stances
Speaker 1: that he has taken. It is incredibly brave. Not a
Speaker 1: lot of people can say that the stances that they
Speaker 1: have taken have led to, you know, the arrestment or
Speaker 1: the retribution being done to their family. So deep respect
Speaker 1: for him. Thanks so much for listening to the show.
Speaker 1: Every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week.
Speaker 1: I love reading your reviews and staying ratings on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Please do that. I always appreciate it. I want to
Speaker 1: thank John Cassio for putting this together. Thanks so much.