What is Enes Kanter Freedom's Net Worth?
Enes Kanter Freedom is a former professional basketball player who has a net worth of $40 million. Enes Kanter played in the NBA from 2011 to 2022 with five different teams. He also played for the Turkish men's national basketball team, winning the bronze medal in the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in 2009. Beyond basketball, Kanter is known for his outspoken political activism, which resulted in the suspension of his Turkish citizenship in 2017. During his NBA career Enes earned $104 million in salary alone.
Early Life and Education
Enes Kanter was born on May 20, 1992 in Zürich, Switzerland to Turkish parents Gülsüm and Mehmet. He has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Growing up, Kanter attended Hizmet schools in Turkey. He also played basketball for the youth squad of Fenerbahçe between 2006 and 2008. Although Kanter was offered professional contracts from both Fenerbahçe and the Greek club Olympiacos, he declined them because he wanted to play basketball in the United States.
In the US, Kanter attended Findlay Prep in Nevada and then Mountain State Academy in West Virginia. However, neither school permitted him to play basketball there due to his contract with Nike at the time. Kanter went on to attend Stoneridge Preparatory School in California, where he was finally able to play high school basketball. For college, he verbally committed to the University of Washington, but ended up signing with Kentucky. Ultimately, however, he was declared ineligible as a collegiate athlete by the NCAA due to an excess of benefits he received from his former club Fenerbahçe.
Utah Jazz
Kanter was chosen with the third overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2011 NBA draft. In his rookie season, he averaged 4.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in all 66 regular-season games. Kanter improved his averages in the 2012-13 season with 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He continued improving over the next season, with averages of 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Oklahoma City Thunder
In February of 2015, Kanter was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After the end of the season, he became a restricted free agent, and in the summer received an offer from the Portland Trail Blazers. However, the Thunder exercised their right of first refusal and matched the offer. Kanter went on to play two more seasons with the Thunder. In the 2015-16 season, he recorded a career-high 33 points and 20 rebounds in a loss to the Trail Blazers. The Thunder ended up advancing to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the Golden State Warriors. In the 2016-17 season, the team made it back to the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets.
New York Knicks
Kanter was traded to the New York Knicks in 2017. In his first season with the team, he recorded 32 double-doubles, a career high. The season after that, Kanter posted a career-high 26 rebounds in a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in late November. However, his season ended early as he was waived by the Knicks the following February.
Portland Trail Blazers, 2019
After being waived by the Knicks, Kanter signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. He went on to help the team reach the playoffs, making it to the Western Conference Finals. Ultimately, the Blazers were swept by the Warriors.
Boston Celtics, 2019-2020
Kanter signed with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2019. With the team in the 2019-20 season, he averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Portland Trail Blazers, 2020-2021
Kanter returned to the Blazers for the 2020-21 season. In April, he set a career high and a franchise record of 30 rebounds in a win against the Detroit Pistons. The Blazers advanced to the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Denver Nuggets.
Boston Celtics, 2021-2022
In the summer of 2021, Kanter returned to the Celtics on a one-year contract. He played in 35 games with the team in the 2021-22 season before being traded to the Houston Rockets in February. However, he was soon waived by the Rockets.
(Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
Turkish National Team
Kanter made his debut for the Turkish men's national basketball team in the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He excelled throughout the tournament, averaging 22.9 points and 16.5 rebounds per game. Although he missed out on the MVP award that year, he was named MVP for the following year's FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he helped lead Turkey to the bronze medal. Kanter later made his debut with the Turkish senior team at EuroBasket 2011.
Political Activism
Kanter is known for his outspoken political activism on global issues. In particular, he has been highly critical of the Turkish government and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him the "Hitler of our century." This has caused severe turmoil for Kanter and his family, with Kanter's Turkish citizenship being revoked in 2017 and his father being charged as a member of a terrorist group in 2018. In early 2019, Turkey put an extradition request on Kanter and asked Interpol to issue a red notice for his arrest.
In other political activist endeavors, Kanter has been a leading pro-Israel influencer online. He has also publicly denounced Chinese leader Xi Jinping; led a rally in Washington, DC exhorting the US Congress to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act; and appeared on television advocating for the boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Because of his outspoken dissent of oppressive governments, Kanter was the subject of an "E:60" ESPN documentary in 2019 entitled "Enemy of the State."
Personal Life
From 2018 to 2019, Kanter dated professional wrestler Dana Brooke. After that, he started dating heiress Ariana Rockefeller. In late 2021, Kanter gained American citizenship and legally changed his surname to Freedom.
