Enes Freedom Says 'Let Me Play Or Admit You're Wrong'

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Head to nyaloy.com and use code dailywire to get 20% off your first order. This code is valid on products only. They revoke my passport. They put my name on Interpol list. I am now only allowed to go to 29 countries in a world, and recently they put a bounce here in my head. You might know him from his incredible NBA career and getting black bald by the league, or you might know him from his new aspirations to join the WNBA. Either way, Innis Cantor Freedom has no doubt made a notable difference in American public debate. In this episode, Freedom joins us in studio to talk about his life and his biggest controversies both on and off the court. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley, and this is a weekend episode of Morning Wire. Joining us now is former NBA player and current women's sports activist, Innis Cantor Freedom. Innis, thanks for coming to our show. Thank you for having me. We are excited to talk to you about a lot of things, and it's kind of wild looking back at your bio, what you've done recently in recent months and recent years, all over the place. I mean, you literally are all over the place, what you've had. You've been in the headlines for the WNBA. Maybe we should just start with that, and then we can back up. But the WNBA has been something we've covered more than we thought we'd ever cover in the show because it became such, it's become such a massive story. You've got involved. You want to join the league. Tell us about your effort to get into the WNBA. Good question. Hey, everybody asking you. What's going on? Yeah. So around a few months ago, I was watching a WNBA because I'm actually a huge fan of the game. Right after the game, it was one of the players, Gabby Williams, which is actually a really good player. She came out and given interview. During the interview, she said, I have no problem with transacted playing in my team or against my team. I promised I had to rewind the video. I'm like, they should have said that. So going forward, right? Other players in coaches came out and said, oh, we will be so open to having a transacted in our league. We will love to have them. So one day, I wake up. I'm like, I have the craziest idea. I'm just going to identify as a woman. I looked at their collective bargaining. Article 13 section one, I says, if you identify as a woman, you're a lot to play. That's all you have to do. So I came out and I'm like, well, from now on, I'm a transacted athlete. I identify as a woman and I will love to play in the WNBA because there's no rule against it. And then after that, the whole world flip. And they've tried to defend their stance saying that you guys are not allowed. Is this correct? Royce White also has said he's announced that he wants to join. How is the league responded? So there's no rule against it. There was a fake news out there that they said, well, they're ineligible to play, which please do not believe that because they have not, we wrote them out so many letters and they haven't get back to us yet. But there's no rule against it. You know, if you identify as a woman, you should be a lot to play and that's all you have to do. It's after my whole after this whole thing, right? People now trying to, you know, think that I'm a I'm just like a psychopath. I'm an extremist. I'm the enemy. But I'm like, listen, I'm just following your rules. If you if you ever come out one day and say, okay, we are adding the word biological next to the word female in your collective bargaining, right? I will disappear. You will not hear from me ever again. But till then, I am allowed to play. And what's motivating you to join? Is it that it's always been your dream to be part of the WNBA or is there a larger goal? I got black ball by the NBA back in 2022. I am still young. I love basketball. I'm actually I love to compete. So if there is no rule against it, then I'm just simply going to follow their rule and see and see what happens. You know, it's it's very interesting because right after my video, which one viral, the the commissioner of the WNBA, Kathy Engelberg came out and said, we need to hold a meeting with the WNBA task force. The reason of the meeting is we need to figure that what is a woman? I'm like, I cannot believe it. They came out out of the meeting and they said, we need weeks or maybe months to decide what is a woman. I turn around to my manager. I was like, I'm going to make sure that she steps down in two weeks. I did what I had to do. She stepped down in one week. Thinking about this, instead of defining what what is a woman, she decided to step down from one of the biggest women organization in America. So it's incredible. A lot of the the energy, the negative energy has been focused on. So if you cunning him, who has been one of the few to actually speak out against men and women's sports. My favorite fall outfits are the ones that make me look like I put in way more effort than I actually did. There's nothing better than leaving work, realizing you have dinner plans and not having to go home and completely change. That's what I've been loving about Bablatic slightly. They have the cutest jacket and denim. I'm telling you, throw a good jacket over a fit of top, add some jewelry, maybe switch your shoes and suddenly you're ready for day night. And their barrel pants I'm obsessed. They have this relax shape with an elastic waistband and drawstring so they're ridiculously comfortable but still look put together. I love that I can wear these pieces to work and then out to dinner or just running around the weekend and looking put together. All the fall colors make everything so easy to mix and match to. Plus, Bablatics has some seriously good deals for new VIPs right now. 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So visit joinadf.com/wire or textwire to 83848 to make twice the impact. That's joinadf.com/wire or textwire to 83848. I wanted to highlight that we've highlighted this in our show but there is a male athlete in France crushing in one of the leagues. I watched her, I watched her pretty well and she's killing it. This male could, there's no argument for this male not joining the league. At some point, this is going to be forced on the league. You're trying to do that. They're trying to brush that off. Very fascinating to see where that goes. You mentioned being blackball from the the NBA and we wanted to drill into that a little bit. There's a lot working into this whole situation but would you unpack that for us? Why is that? Why were you blackballed, do you believe? For the last 11, 12 years, I talk about the problems are happening in Turkey because Turkey is a dictatorship and Turkey helps many terrorist organizations out there which there are a lot of reports out there. You know, NBA has actually supported me a lot and they gave me so much motivation to fight for what's right and they gave me so much hope. When I started to talk about the human rights violations in China, that support was nowhere to be found. I was talking about the like, you know, the problems is happening in, with Uighurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese people, and more people watch NBA games in China that American population last year. So, annually, it's billions or dollars, right? Yeah. It's even bigger market than America. So, for that reason, I'm like, NBA was like enough is enough. You're out. When the first, I remember, first week, I started to speak up. Many of my teammates came to me in a locker room and knew what they were like listening. There are two things. Every at this notice in America, there are two things in America that you know a lot to speak up about. I was like, what is it? They said, number one, China, number two, Nike. You criticize that two thing, you will be out of the league immediately. So, have fun. Enjoy. Pray that we win a championship because you're not going to be able to dribble a basketball on an NBA court ever again. That pretty much happened a couple months later, I got kicked out, and that was it. Is there any legal action that you have taken and can take about that? Yes, I can. I have nots because so I have lawyers that are actually preparing all the you know the files that we have because it is important for me to show the hypocrisy of the NBA because when all the protests were happening in America, you know, all the Black Lives Matter protests were happening in America. NBA was the first organization that came out and said, we have to, you know, stand with the people. You guys are the leaders of our community, speak up. Few years later, when this whole China thing happened, NBA was trying to shut me down. So I was like, you know what, this is unacceptable and you got to do whatever we can to hold them accountable. So, yes. What was their nominal reason for terminating you or not continuing your contract? You know, it was so funny because I, so they kicked me out of the league when I, in February, I still had another like six months left of my contract. They just said, just, just go home. We still going to pay you, but just go home. So I was just sitting at home watching TV and they were still paying me how, what do they say to fans? Huh? What were they saying to fans? How are they explaining it? When I had a conversation with Adam Silver, which is the commissioner of the NBA, the, he said, he basically said, well, they said different system in China at the end, we are a business. When I had a conversation with MVP, the player association, which I pay thousands of dollars every month to protect my rights against NBA, they said, well, this is what happens when you talk about China. I had another conversation with an owner. He was the owner of Milwaukee Box. He said, if you say a word about China, you're out. So I'm glad that I'm exposing their hypocrisy. Now that's also not even your only scandals. I understand you have a warrant out for your arrest. Yeah, tell us about that. So when it comes to Turkey, I mean, it's a very important ally, it's a NATO ally, but I think it is one of the biggest dictatorship in Middle East because they came out and I mean, they were caught. Whoever watched in this, please actually go on in China and research about what they have done. So they bought S 400 from Russia. That's why they got kicked out of F 35 program one and two, they got caught sending truckloads of weapons to ISIS. They give passports to Hamas leaders so they can go in and out of European countries. They help Muslim brotherhood, they want, I think they are the biggest financial supporters of Muslim brotherhood. So I, just like I did with the MBA, I expose their hypocrisy. I go and show the show and talk about what they are doing wrong and there are many political prisoners waiting for, waiting for help into Turkish jails. You know, they, they revoke my passport. They put my name on Interpolness. I am now only allowed to go to 29 countries in the world and recently they put a boundary on my head. So I have to live with a boundary on my head as a U.S. citizen. So my dad was in jail at one point but I am glad we put so much pressure from here to Turkey. Right? They had to let him go. So it's been almost 14 years and I haven't seen my family. Wow. Oh my goodness. So what has driven you to these, you're clearly taking difficult stances that put you at risk, career wise and even legally or criminally? Let's driven you to take these kinds of actions, a promise. When I was a kid, it was right after 9/11. I went downstairs to play with my friends and I remember my friends, which they were not even teenagers, they were burning American flags, they were breaking crosses. I asked one of my friend, I'm like, guys, what are you doing? They said, well, we should hate America, we should hate Christians, we should hate the Jewish people, we should hate the West. I'm like, why? Well, they said they're evil people. I run upstairs to my mom, I was like, my friends are telling me to hate America, hate Christian and Jewish people. What do I do? My mom said, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but do not hate anyone till you meet them. So I give a promise to my mom that day and then I remember she turned on the TV. It was the images and the videos of the 9/11. My mom said, look at them. These people are someone's father, someone's daughter, someone's mother and someone's family. Don't ever be happy for someone else's pain. So that day I give a promise. Not many people know about this, but in many countries in Middle East, in schools, four of classes, you have an American flag. And if you don't stop on that flag, you're not even allowed to attend the class. So think about it as a kid, they started to teach you about the hate America, the hate Christian people, the hate Jewish people. So when I was 17 years old, my dad was like, enough is enough. You're going to go to America, you're going to play basketball and get your education the same time. I even remember asking my dad, I was like, that, do you really want me to go to devil's nest? He didn't say anything and he said, go and see yourself. I came here as a teenager, I started to meet people for the first time. Me with America, as the Jewish people and the Christian people. I was like, I cannot believe for the last 17 years, all I heard was just pure propaganda. Now most people can't just show up and be really great at basketball and join the NBA. How did you become a basketball star, presumably you were playing all growing up? So I started pretty late because I was playing soccer, I love soccer, which we call the football. Anyway, we can get to that debate later. The tallest soccer player of all time, maybe? Actually, yeah, pretty much. I started pretty late and then I came here for a high school. I went to high school in LA, college in Kentucky, which was a very different experience because I was just trying to learn English and I don't know what kind of language we were speaking in that state. But it was just a weird, heavy accent. And then after that, I was really good and then I got drafted in 2011, a third pick by Utah Chess. Incredible. So you had this dream. You came to America and actually fulfilled the dream and became a key member of several teams, but the Celtics, the most one of the most iconic brands of all time. I mean, was it heartbreaking to suddenly find yourself boxed out of the league? The saddest thing was, right after I got kicked out, you know, I played 11 years, I played on the nine different head coach, I had hundreds of teammates, hundreds of coaches, right? Not one of them texted me and said, "Good luck with whatever comes your way now." And they were my brothers, they were literally, they became my family because they were scared off. If I ever do an interview that we're just scared of, I'm ever going to mention their name now, they're going to lose sponsorships and they're going to lose endorsement deals and they're not going to be able to get another contract. I mean, I just, I literally just started to talk to a couple players because of all this like double the NBA stuff because they curious what's my angle, what is my angle. But before that, I really haven't spoken to any players. Wow. Now you live in DC now and you've said this is strategically important for you. Okay. Can you speak to that? Why? So I'm, the reason I'm, you know, I'm part of my work because of my whole life, I've never spoken about politics because I believe human rights is above politics. I don't care if you're from the far right, far left, whoever you voted for, you have to care about human rights. So the reason I'm in DC is because obviously there are many people around the world waiting for help, many political prisoners, right? So I try to work with both parties to come up with bills and resolutions and hearing to put pressure on these dictatorships to release political prisoners around the world. I mean, so far, I'm not going to lie for the last six to eight months, it's getting tougher and tougher because even if it's for like a good cause, just people just don't want to put their signature on the same paper because our country unfortunately is so divided. But I think DC is the best place for me to live. DC also could be strategic with this other priority, which is protecting women's sports. This is something strangely polarizing topic, Republicans, solidly for it. Some Democrats starting to come on board. but still a lot of resistance. What are you seeing in DC on that particular issue? - So I actually had this conversation with Sophie Kahn and him. We even said like, we are not anti-trans, we're just a pro woman, there's a huge difference. The second thing is, this is not a right or left issue. This is literally the matter of common sense and morality, right? I wouldn't want, I don't have a kid or anything, but like, I wouldn't want my daughter to go against a biological male, this is just not fair. Biology matters, right? So, I mean, I'm sort of Republicans or obviously trying to help me with everything I'm doing. But now slowly, I started to see, you know, few Democrats started to understand me like, okay, this is not a political issue. And like literally 85, 90% of people in America wouldn't want their daughter to play against a biological male. - Yeah. - When I got kicked out of the game from your Chicago sky game, you know, I was getting so much hate, my DMs right now, full of pictures and videos of Charlie Kirk and saying that they're saying that you're next, you know? - Oh my gosh. - So I was getting all these hates, I was getting all those death threats, and now FBI is involved. At one point, I started to ask myself, I'm like, am I doing the right thing? After I got kicked out of Chicago sky game, I was about to land in DC. There was a gentleman was sitting next to me, and well, after we land, he was like, listen, I didn't want to bother you, but I just want to say something. I got two daughters, they're both playing sports. On behalf of them, I just want to say thank you. I was like, you know what? I don't care what kind of hate or death threats I get. This is not only to protect in, you know, WNBA, the woman in WNBA, but just future generations as well. You know, so this is bigger than myself, bigger than everything that I've done. And if you can force the hand of the WNBA, it might have a broader effect on all the other leaks as well. I hope so. That's what we are actually hoping and planning. Yeah, well, and that's the toughest nut to crack, I'm sure. Yeah. Maybe softball. Right, anyway. And it's thanks so much for coming on. Of course, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. That was Innis Canner Freedom, and this has been a weekend edition of Morning Wire. This episode is brought to you by Alloy Health. Menopause is inevitable. Spending years trying to find relief from the symptoms shouldn't be. Menopause can bring disrupted sleep, hot flashes, brain fog, weight changes, and a lower libido. And women often spend years trying to find relief. 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