The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad - Enes Kanter Freedom - Former NBA Star and Author of In the Name of Freedom (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad

00:00:00.000 I'm delighted to report that I have joined as a scholar the Declaration of Independence Center

00:00:06.120 for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi. The center offers

00:00:12.300 educational opportunities, speakers, internship, and reading groups for the University of Mississippi

00:00:18.280 community. It is named in honor of the United States founding document which constitutes the

00:00:25.340 nation as a political community and expresses fundamental principles of American freedom

00:00:31.060 including in the recognition of the importance of Judeo-Christian values in shaping American

00:00:37.300 exceptionalism. Dedicated to the academic and open-minded exploration of these principles

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00:00:56.340 about the center please visit Ole Miss that's o-l-e-m-i-s-s dot edu slash independence slash

00:01:05.240 Hi everybody this is Gadsad. Today I've got a third NBA superstar on my show. You'd think he's the first

00:01:12.920 one. John Amaechi who was a courageous guy because he came out as the first openly gay player who was

00:01:24.400 also I think a center. Second Honey Badger Jonathan Isaac who stood up for his beliefs and now today

00:01:32.180 I've got the distinct privilege of having Ennis Cantor Freedom. How are you doing sir? Good man thank you

00:01:38.420 for having me I appreciate that. I'm very very excited to speak to you. You have a book coming

00:01:43.700 out on October 7th. I don't know if it was strategically meant to come out on October 7th

00:01:47.580 for symbolic reasons. It's called In the Name of Freedom. Talk us through this thesis and then we'll

00:01:54.540 drill down. Of course so the book talks about a lot of like coexistence you know and I've been trying

00:02:00.740 to you know organize basketball camps you know all around the world and we are trying to bring all

00:02:07.620 Abrahamic faiths together to inspire the next generation and obviously everybody knows what

00:02:14.280 happened on October 7th so I was like and every book in America I don't know for some reason comes

00:02:19.740 out on Tuesday so when my publishing house said well we have these days I was like you know what

00:02:25.840 the book talks a lot about the coexistence especially the the relationship between the Muslims and Jews

00:02:32.600 um so I was like you know what I think that's a uh that will be an amazing uh amazing time to just

00:02:39.780 inspire the next generation so. Right and offline before we came you know on the show a couple days

00:02:47.880 ago you texted me and you said please read these following pages because it exactly speaks to sort of

00:02:55.200 some of the stereotypes that each group might have about the other maybe we could start there and then we

00:03:01.100 we'll go into other topics. Of course so I think that the I think the people uh to understand where

00:03:07.160 I'm coming from they need to hear about mild childhood because you know growing up in um in

00:03:13.160 middle east uh if you're a politician right uh and if you want to be elected again you do a couple

00:03:19.940 things uh you attack America you attack Christians you attack Jewish people and unfortunately the base is

00:03:27.020 so uneducated they're like wow look at our leader right he's standing tall against America he's standing

00:03:31.900 tall against the west he's standing tall against the the Christian or Jewish people let's vote for him

00:03:36.220 and unfortunately every politician uses that right so um so when I was growing up it was the same uh

00:03:44.780 same case I grew up east side of Turkey where like it's close to like Iran I guess um and many politicians

00:03:52.440 there were using that propaganda so I remember I was nine years old I went downstairs to play with

00:03:58.880 my friends and my friends who are not even teenagers they were burning American flags and I remember I

00:04:05.820 asked one of my friends like dude what are you doing they said well we should hate America we should

00:04:10.280 hate the west we should hate to hate the Christians and the Jews I was like why they said well that's what

00:04:16.160 we've seen on TV so they gave me a flag to burn it they gave me an American flag they gave me a lighter

00:04:22.380 and they said burn it and I remember I literally looked down I'm like this is not the right thing

00:04:27.900 to do so I threw the flag down I ran upstairs to my mom I was like mom my friends are telling me to hate

00:04:33.720 America hate Jewish people hate Christians hate the west what do I do my mom said I'm not going to tell

00:04:39.780 you what to do but do not hate anyone before you before you meet them so that was like the first time

00:04:45.540 that I was like I gave a promise and I promise I'm not going to break the promise no matter what

00:04:50.560 um I want our audience to understand um it's not the religion it's not Islam it's the politicians

00:04:57.780 because it's the easiest way to be reelected again to use to use that hate and to create a platform

00:05:05.980 and and to look like a strong man right um so I mean right now look at all when you look at all over

00:05:14.960 Middle East I mean you will see flags on the streets and people are stepping on it and um and

00:05:22.460 stuff so it's it breaks my heart had you ever so I went back just to get my numbers right and I think

00:05:28.840 around the turn of the 20th century towards the end of the Ottoman Empire you had about 200,000

00:05:36.720 Turkish Jews the current numbers are at around 14,000-15,000 so a precipitous drop so having said

00:05:44.260 that did you meet and interact with many Turkish Jews growing up or or or was your first Jewish

00:05:51.600 encounter in the United States oh no no I did not at all uh in Turkey I did not have any Jewish friends

00:05:58.080 um by the way after I came to uh America I remember uh in New York I was sitting down and this guy

00:06:05.420 had this like uh I've never heard this kind of like accent he his accent was like Turkish but he has

00:06:13.940 this like this thick Jewish accent with it but he was I was like where are you from he's like I'm

00:06:19.780 from America I'm like no you're not uh and then he told me about his story um he said well he was a

00:06:26.020 Turkish Jew uh he moved to America a long time ago uh he actually owns like a one of the biggest

00:06:32.240 hotel in in New York um we had a really good conversation and we had a really really nice uh lunch

00:06:38.820 to uh together but uh no it was my I never ever met a Jew um when I was growing up in Turkey I you know

00:06:47.960 met my first time actually Jew was in America so maybe now this is the right time to cue

00:06:54.740 the story with the girl who invited you for Shabbat dinner I I love that story thank you for pointing

00:07:00.780 me to it take it away so um obviously after I so well I'm I was 17 years old right I came to I was

00:07:09.500 about to come to America before I come to America like the environment that I was growing up in it was

00:07:14.600 getting so toxic I you know my dad said enough is enough you are going to America I even remember

00:07:21.320 asking my dad like do you really want me to go to devil's nest he looked me that in the eye is like

00:07:27.480 go and see yourself I said okay um so um I my flight my plane took off I was about to land in New York

00:07:36.660 for the first time I'm like I'm so excited but the nervous same time I just don't know like what to

00:07:42.920 expect you know I landed I remember I joined my first high school practice um there was two two uh

00:07:52.540 player two my teammates um you know after the practice were sitting down in the locker room and

00:07:58.980 they said hey man like we know that you're Muslim would you like to you know take you to a mosque and

00:08:03.640 go so we can go get some halal food after I turned around and left the locker room because I just didn't

00:08:10.060 know like what they were trying to do then I remember the promise I came back I was like look

00:08:15.400 let's just go you know um they were so respectful man they took me to a mosque they took their shoes

00:08:21.120 off they were so they were so kind and then after that we we went to go get some Turkish uh Turkish food

00:08:27.340 it was delicious and after that you know obviously I started to make it make like a lot of friends

00:08:32.800 I attended this event I met with this uh girl she was very kind very nice person and um and after

00:08:41.720 that we like we started to become friends she was actually helping me a lot with my English uh you

00:08:46.680 know we had a lot of look a lot of we we studied a lot together and then after that the one day um

00:08:52.940 she said well I know that your family's not here would you like to you know come to my house I was like

00:08:59.200 well I'm free Wednesday he's like no no no come Friday I was like well I might be busy Friday why

00:09:04.720 I'm free Wednesday he's like well you have to come Friday I was like why they said well that's what

00:09:09.200 that's what our like big dinner is um I was like what kind of dinner are you talking about well it's

00:09:14.520 a Shabbat and I was like what's a Shabbat they said well it's like a this this like religious um

00:09:22.300 like a religious dinner that we have every Friday I'm like I was I'm confused like what are you

00:09:27.960 talking about it's like well just because it was Jew as soon as I heard that word Jew boom I hang

00:09:33.800 up the phone I promise you and then I'm like I turn my phone on my bed I'm like I cannot believe I just

00:09:41.100 had a conversation conversation with someone who's a Jew like am I going to hell devil a devil a demon

00:09:46.800 exactly exactly like literally um and then after that I'm like that night I'm like I slept maybe a

00:09:53.940 couple hours I'm like I remember I know that I give a promise to my mom and I cannot break it

00:09:59.320 but then I'm like there's no way I'm gonna continue to have like a some kind of friendship with a Jew

00:10:05.800 um in the morning I'm like you know what I mean my mom is like one of the most important things for

00:10:12.320 me I cannot break that promise um I called her back I'm like you know what I'm coming with my mom

00:10:18.080 I'm only asking for one thing I am not converting because now convert me I don't need I don't drink

00:10:24.660 alcohol and I don't eat pork she's like good we're a Jew we don't eat pork either um so she

00:10:30.380 we I got the phone before uh before I go to her house I called one of my friends uh who lives in

00:10:37.220 America I was like listen man I'm gonna go to my friend's house and you know he was like why are you

00:10:42.380 calling me he's like well you know she's a Jew she and he started to scream he's like are you crazy

00:10:49.340 what are you doing they drink blood they eat babies you gotta like you know they're gonna convert you

00:10:57.180 don't make that mistake I was like listen man I give a promise I can't I mean I cannot break it

00:11:04.140 um so I went to her house she came out to greet me and um before I went into her house she like

00:11:12.360 kiss her hand and slap something outside of our door I'm like what are you doing you weirdo she's

00:11:17.920 like well uh that's like a prayer that we put on our door it's called mezuzah then it just protects our

00:11:24.080 uh protects our house I was like oh we kind of like have the same thing it's because like

00:11:28.220 bismillahirrahmanirrahim in the name of God um so I was like that's interesting so I walk into her

00:11:36.660 house I promise like her mom had like a big tray of like a Turkish delight she was just greeting me

00:11:43.200 with a Turkish delight I was like interesting so I took one tasted it put a bag I was like that's

00:11:49.660 actually like one of the best uh tastiest delight I've ever ate so we sit on the table and I'm just

00:11:56.640 like looking everywhere right I'm like if there's any kind of like red drink that they're drinking if

00:12:02.220 there's any kind of like weird me I'm like it's all in my head I'm like this is so crazy um and then

00:12:08.600 her dad just pour something on a way like what do you call this like you pour wine or something on

00:12:15.240 like a cast you say exactly yeah so she did that she prayed over broke the bread and I'm like she

00:12:23.020 gave me a like a little cup I'm like I'm not drinking that get that away from me like I'm not

00:12:27.680 drinking that thing she was like dude it's like it's a grape juice I was like so she gave me one

00:12:32.840 I'm like I smelled a little bit put it on the side I'm like I'm not drinking that thing um but I

00:12:38.520 remember the bread one of the I had never tasted bread that was so delicious yeah I don't know what

00:12:43.860 it was it called um challah challah yeah yeah and then after that we had an amazing night man um I was

00:12:51.940 very like curious like I was like very like I was like when I was tasting the food I was like very

00:12:57.260 careful and stuff but um after the dinner you know like I saw some of the cultures were very similar to

00:13:05.060 ours and before I leave her house her mom said just come anytime we are your family now um you know I

00:13:13.460 don't know what you heard about the Jews when you were growing up but you know don't wait for Shabbat

00:13:17.500 just come anytime you want and when I left her house I started to get very emotional because there

00:13:23.360 are millions of kids in Middle East growing up anti-West anti-American anti-Semitic uh just anti-Christian

00:13:31.520 just because of those hate speeches coming from those governments I was like my life mission now

00:13:37.640 is like whatever I do I gotta inspire the next generation to to understand better the other side so

00:13:47.420 phenomenal phenomenal I actually I have a story that's quite similar to yours in the sense of

00:13:53.220 demystifying stereotypes so in my first uh semester as a as a doctoral student I I studied at Cornell

00:14:01.600 uh yeah and actually I I no not in this book in in my forthcoming book suicidal empathy I actually

00:14:09.420 discussed the story so you're getting a preview of the next book uh I call it the Jew Jew story and

00:14:15.800 you'll see in a second why all right so first semester so I'm I'm from Lebanon and so Arabic is

00:14:20.480 my mother tongue oh beautiful yeah and so uh when we so when I got to to Cornell I I was very quickly

00:14:29.300 friends with some Arab guys uh just because we're both Lebanese we're all Lebanese we all speak Arabic

00:14:35.560 we all love soccer I was a very good soccer player and so we used to always play soccer together

00:14:41.800 and so one day one of those guys invited me out it's fun it's so funny how the dynamics of the story

00:14:49.280 are almost the same as your story so he invites me out for a coffee and uh I'm like more than happy to

00:14:56.420 oblige so we go out for coffee and then as we sit down he says to me uh it's actually the opposite of

00:15:02.720 your conversion story he tries to convert me to Islam so he says uh you know God you're a you're a

00:15:08.800 very smart guy how come you haven't converted to to Islam so I looked at him and I said I'm not going

00:15:16.100 to say his name although maybe I should at this point but anyways I looked at him I said if the

00:15:21.380 point of this coffee meeting is for you to do this conversion stuff it's not going to go well so now he

00:15:27.540 realizes it and he backs away and then he pauses and he goes you know God I really like you and I look

00:15:35.980 at him and I with a little smile and I say why do you say that with some hesitation oh I know why

00:15:42.080 it's because I'm a Jew he goes no but come on you're not a Jew Jew I said no no no I am a Jew Jew Jew Jew

00:15:51.820 now why do I put the story is because in his mind here is this guy who doesn't fit the stereotypes

00:16:00.180 that I learned Jews are diabolic Jews are cowardly Jews are pigs Jews drink the blood he plays soccer

00:16:08.780 better than all of us combined he speaks Arabic just like the rest of us he is a really sweet and

00:16:14.620 fun guy he can't be a real Jew so he's not a Jew Jew so the only way he could reconcile the story in

00:16:21.840 his head is to remove the fact that I'm actually not a representative of the real Jews that can't be

00:16:28.580 like me so that story keeps repeating itself and it's that's so that that's so funny man I mean also

00:16:34.800 like after so after like I left her house right and so I went on I wanted to actually understand better

00:16:41.780 like what's happened around the world um and like I remember like texting her one day I'm like look

00:16:48.740 like listen I my English is not good I'm not going to be able to like read any books about these

00:16:53.720 conversations that we just had but like is there like a like a documentary is there like a movie is

00:16:58.660 there like a like a show that I can watch to understand what's happening around the world

00:17:03.420 better she said of course I was like what is it she said there is a movie called don't mess with

00:17:09.920 Zohan watch that movie watch that movie you under you'll understand everything oh my god I have no

00:17:16.440 idea like I have no idea that that uh that's like going to become like one of my favorite movie of

00:17:21.760 all time and uh so I watched it I called her back I was like I want to what is it called the sizzly

00:17:27.780 bubble now what is it called I don't know I this is the movie with Adam Sandler right yeah exactly

00:17:34.080 no with the with the Israelis and Palestinians and they they play and they you know they at the end

00:17:39.660 they become friends and stuff I started asking her like is there like this that sizzly bubble is

00:17:44.200 actually exists or not it does not exist but no man I mean it's when we were gonna have these

00:17:50.300 basketball camps around the world I like I know what's going on like the kids don't even it's

00:17:56.320 actually a very crazy story so in in 2022 this is actually the I don't know if I ever told you this

00:18:02.680 story before um I sit down so when I was playing for Boston Celtics I had a conversation with um

00:18:09.720 um the the count the Israeli consul general to Boston yes I sit down I have a conversation his

00:18:17.400 name was Ziv Booker I don't know if you know him or not no I don't so so we sit down and we're having

00:18:22.440 this conversation I'm like okay I asked him like what can I do to like to try to bring two sides

00:18:27.040 together he's like well man it might be impossible man like look what look what's happened around the

00:18:31.500 world I was like listen man I think that the food sports and art you can use it to bring people

00:18:37.820 together I was like so I was always like brainstorming him like what can we do and one day

00:18:43.060 I called him I was like I need I need to meet you immediately uh so me and him became really good

00:18:48.380 friends because he invited me for a Holocaust Remembers Day and I mean I I never heard about

00:18:54.740 Holocaust till I came to America why did meet with him yeah of course I mean they're not gonna teach

00:18:59.700 you about Holocaust in Turkey so I actually started to heard about Holocaust for the first time in

00:19:05.140 maybe I was like 26 20 25 26 you know uh so this guy invited me for a Holocaust Remembers Day

00:19:12.440 and I'm like I'm sure I'll I mean I'll come and learn I don't know a lot about it but I'll come and

00:19:17.800 learn so um I went to the uh the event and while I'm like standing up I have a conversation with the

00:19:25.140 guy we were brainstorming like what can we do to bring two sides together there was this like old lady

00:19:31.160 I think she was up like over 90 years old she was in a wheelchair she rolled over uh and she looked

00:19:37.720 up right and she's like I never seen it I never seen a Jew this tall before I was like man you're

00:19:44.780 so sweet but I'm not a Jew I was he's like what are you he's like I'm Muslim he's like what are you

00:19:50.240 doing he's like well I'm here to learn so she started to tear up wow and Z told me that she's a

00:19:56.700 Holocaust survivor he had this like a what do you call this like a little yeah the tattoo numbers

00:20:02.240 tattoo right I was like wow I mean I was like man aren't you too old to get a tattoo because I don't

00:20:07.860 know anything about it I didn't know I was gonna like offend her or whatever and then she started

00:20:11.380 like crying she was like uh let me explain it to you well if you're here to learn let me explain it

00:20:16.200 to you and then she started to like you know teach me about she's like 90 years old barely speak

00:20:21.460 can barely speak and broken English and she was like telling me about the Holocaust and I was like

00:20:28.560 this is crazy because I've never even heard about it till I was like 25 26 so after that me and Ziv

00:20:35.720 had a conversation I was like we gotta do something man so I decided this is crazy I decided to um to

00:20:44.620 organize a basketball camp in Jerusalem where I'm gonna brought but I'm gonna bring Palestinians and

00:20:50.460 Israelis together wow people said you are crazy they're not gonna play basketball they're gonna

00:20:56.660 fight blah blah right I was like I don't care what happens I don't care what it takes I'm I'm gonna I'm

00:21:03.640 gonna make that happen so the only problem was so when you go to Jerusalem directly from America

00:21:12.300 you go over Turkey so if obviously I'm like the most wanted man in Turkey so if I fly over Turkey what

00:21:19.980 these dictatorships do they call up the plane and and there's a bomb in the plane so they bring the

00:21:26.220 plane down oh my god they arrest the guy and they let the plane go so I had many conversations with the

00:21:33.120 Israeli ambassador or many other ones they said we're gonna take care of it so we had a conversation

00:21:39.600 with I believe Elal the captain's like listen if you want we can go around Turkey so we don't have

00:21:46.600 to go over Turkey this is an amazing project we we want you to do it wow no this is actually a crazy

00:21:53.500 story so literally I got on a plane and I landed in like Italy or something and then after that like

00:22:00.800 we went around Turkey with Elal we landed um my first day we brought you know Palestinians in

00:22:08.880 in Israeli kids they walk there's a big YMCA in Jerusalem I'm sure you know about it so they walked

00:22:15.620 in right is Palestinians in one half court the Israelis in the other half court they're not even

00:22:21.840 forget about like shaking heads they're not even looking at each other I'm like like what am I gonna do

00:22:28.080 this is crazy so I started to put them in the same team right and and they they were not even

00:22:34.180 passing the ball to each other is that crazy they were losing the games because they didn't want to

00:22:38.780 pass the ball like the guy is open pass the ball anyway so there was this one moment I put myself in

00:22:46.520 their team I got the rebound I give the ball to this Jewish Israeli kid he crossed someone over he

00:22:52.640 passed though he had to pass the ball like the ball to this Palestinian girl and she scored a ball

00:22:57.180 while she was coming back they high five each other there you go I was like you know what this is the

00:23:02.700 most beautiful scene I've ever seen in my life this is it we we broke the ice you know and then after

00:23:08.880 that after two weeks uh they started to you know exchange numbers follow each other on Instagram they

00:23:15.940 were just taking selfies I was like this is it we did it you know um no it was it was it was so

00:23:22.720 beautiful man um but I just wish that it wasn't for only two weeks it was just you know continue to

00:23:29.520 happens so I want to so you you started with the story of when you were nine years old where you

00:23:35.360 decided I don't want to burn the flag which suggests to me that it is part of your innate makeup

00:23:42.380 to question things right you're you're an authentic guy you're open-minded you're not scared to

00:23:48.020 now I think that that is the random combination of your genes that make you who you are in the same

00:23:54.380 way that you're six foot ten you're also the guy who says I'm not just going to believe something

00:23:58.840 but do you think there is a way to to bottle that kind of courage that because as you said a lot of the

00:24:08.200 hatred comes from people not questioning the stuff that they're hearing whether they hear it from your

00:24:13.640 political leaders or they hear it from their religiously it doesn't matter they they take it

00:24:18.260 as gospel the Jews are evil but you came along at nine years old and by the way I have very similar

00:24:23.620 story when I was five years old and we were in Lebanon going to the synagogue and you know there

00:24:28.940 are different uh rituals you have to do when I asked my father well why are we now standing up

00:24:34.320 why are we sitting down and he just told me just shut up and do it and that upset me because

00:24:40.300 I don't what do you mean shut up and do it explain to me why so that was part of my makeup to question

00:24:46.900 things as it is for you is there a way that we can teach people to be more open-minded more courageous

00:24:54.200 or it's just the random luck of your genes I mean Rob I mean right now if you go on I mean if you're a

00:25:01.920 teenager right and if you don't know anything about these conversations what do you do you go on

00:25:07.200 TikTok you go on Instagram you go on Twitter and there is so much misinformation out there

00:25:12.780 about the Jews about the Muslims about the Christians about the blacks and whites like about everything

00:25:17.740 everybody now everyone has a voice right if everyone is trying to become this activist and

00:25:25.020 everyone everyone trying to become this voice for the voiceless but like there is so much

00:25:29.780 misinformation if you're not educated you you can't be putting like the wrong things out there and

00:25:34.080 like people are gonna believe it because you know it's all about your algorithm so uh it's tough man

00:25:40.320 I mean back in the day it wasn't that crazy we didn't have TikTok we didn't have Twitter that's much

00:25:46.320 we only have Facebook maybe YouTube right um so I mean it's these kids like these days um I mean

00:25:53.280 it's been brainwashed by um many tools out there so so I think like the the courageous voice like needs

00:26:00.220 to go out there and and speak up and if you feel like you're educated enough just go out there and

00:26:04.740 speak up and and like like my mindset you know I I support it I support innocent people I don't care

00:26:11.500 what your background is your religion your skin color like whoever you are if you're innocent I

00:26:16.460 support you you know um and that's how you got into trouble with the NBA because you were supporting the

00:26:22.520 Uyghur Muslims in China yeah and and suddenly that's not a good thing because the NBA doesn't

00:26:28.780 want to be you know in bad terms with the the Chinese so tell us about that I mean that that

00:26:36.180 thing so like when I started to you know speak up about the things that are happening in Turkey

00:26:42.620 about you know dictator Erdogan or or his corruption scandals and how he puts innocent people in

00:26:49.680 jail actually NBA supported me a lot the commissioner Adam Silver uh all my teammates

00:26:57.480 uh my coaches and the fans like they supported me and that gave me so much hope for the future

00:27:03.060 I was like you know what like they have my back and they give me a motivation to fight you know and

00:27:09.540 when I started to talk about the problems that are happening in China my god like that support was

00:27:17.000 nowhere to be found yeah because they don't make a lot of money in Turkey but they make billions of

00:27:21.800 dollars in China just what just just listen to this more people watch NBA games in China than American

00:27:28.860 population last year wow so think about like endorsement deals shoe sales jersey sales tv deals like

00:27:35.760 10 cent um so it's like it's for them it's like literally the biggest market and they did not want to

00:27:41.600 lose it when back in 2019 when Daryl Morey the GM of the Houston Rockets and I believe he's now the

00:27:49.040 the GM of the the Sixers uh tweeted about staying with Hong Kong I believe Adam Silver said the NBA have

00:27:56.220 lost what 150 million dollars and on that tweet just just with one tweet it's actually out there on the

00:28:04.000 internet so when I start to speak up about the problems that happened in China I was playing for like

00:28:09.520 the biggest team um and biggest the marketable team in uh NBA Boston Celtics and um and they stopped

00:28:18.240 showing every Celtics game on television the Chinese television and that costed NBA millions of dollars

00:28:25.020 so did they approach that Adam Silver approach you and say hey Ennis time to chill out a bit or

00:28:31.180 or it was never directly stated to you but implied so when I exactly it was actually even worse it was

00:28:39.000 like the MBPA the player association which I paid thousands of dollars every month to protect my

00:28:44.260 rights against the NBA and they were like listen man like you we are getting a lot of calls from

00:28:50.340 everywhere especially the NBA the front office they you cannot wear those so I started to put in this

00:28:57.100 like messages on my shoes you know I put free Tibet free Uyghurs stand with Hong Kong stand with Taiwan

00:29:03.020 because there is no rule against it back in 2020 when all the protests were happening in America all the

00:29:10.860 players were putting on their shoes I can't breathe Breonna Taylor George Floyd Black Lives Matter I'm like

00:29:17.080 listen you have a freedom of protest in America so sure you can put whatever you want to put but literally

00:29:22.120 two years later when I wanted to put like free Tibet right and it's another human rights issue it's not a

00:29:28.680 political issue you cannot tell me not to wear so NBA pressured me so much to not to wear those shoes

00:29:35.540 they even came to me before this Knicks came and said you cannot wear those shoes ever again

00:29:41.920 and I'm like am I breaking any rules they said no to me it was a perfect moment because I was just

00:29:48.920 getting ready for my citizenship test uh so I'm like I closed my eyes I was okay we have 27 amendments

00:29:54.940 my first amendment freedom of speech I turn around I turn around to that guy I'm like no I'm not taking

00:29:59.780 him off and um they threatened to ban me from the NBA um and then after that things got worse and worse

00:30:09.000 um and then after I started to talk about the problems that are happening with Nike with all the

00:30:17.240 sweatshops and slave labor um all my teammates came and gave me a hug in a locker room I said listen man

00:30:24.180 this is your last year I hope you enjoy it but you're never going to play basketball ever again

00:30:29.940 oh they they knew the writing was on the wall oh yeah that was that was it my my agent even called

00:30:36.200 me and he was like one of the biggest agent in America is that listen man I work for you I don't

00:30:40.740 work for an NBA so I'm going to be honest with you if you say another word you're 29 30 years old you

00:30:46.700 can't play another five years you're not only throwing away your NBA career but you're throwing away

00:30:51.300 between 45 to 50 million dollars if you want to do it go ahead I want to I want to stop you right

00:30:58.660 here and explain a really important concept based on what you just said so in and please bear with me

00:31:04.360 as I explain it so in biology there's this principle called costly signaling so for for a signal to be an

00:31:12.800 honest signal it has to cost you something otherwise right if I put hashtag BLM or hashtag

00:31:19.480 a Ukraine flag it doesn't cost me anything so for example the peacock's tail right you know the big

00:31:26.040 the big peacock's tail the reason why the peacock is able to evolve that trait because it actually reduces

00:31:32.420 its survivability because it makes him more seeable seen by predators it makes it more difficult for him

00:31:39.300 to escape but that tail evolves because it is a costly signal of how good his genes are he's telling

00:31:47.500 the ladies despite the fact that I've got this very costly tail I'm still here therefore you should

00:31:53.400 pick me as your mate you giving up 40 50 million dollars is literally a costly signal I mean in a

00:32:01.960 monetary sense you're you're you're walking the walk whereas most of the idiots are putting hashtag but

00:32:08.540 they right so to me it's the highest form of integrity do you ever in the deep recesses of

00:32:16.160 the privacy of your thoughts regret that and say god damn it or absolutely not I I stand firm by my

00:32:23.960 principles I've never regretted a thing about what I'm doing you know people keep you know people keep

00:32:28.920 you know often talks about that me losing my career uh or me losing like tens of millions of dollars

00:32:34.960 because I wanted to stand up for what I believe in but that was pretty much like nothing compared to

00:32:41.640 losing my family I literally wanted to speak up about all the injustice happening in Turkey

00:32:48.280 and all the human rights violations and political prisoners in Turkey I have not seen my family

00:32:53.960 almost 11 years now so that was that's literally nothing like I know it's gonna sound like a little

00:32:59.380 crazy but losing 40 50 million dollars of losing my MBA career is literally nothing

00:33:04.640 nothing compared to losing my family you know last time I I can't remember what my mom looks like

00:33:11.140 now you know it's been it's been 11 years now now that's because you can't go to Turkey but what

00:33:16.740 stops them for meeting you in New Jersey or Boston or LA so I'll tell you a whole story so uh back in

00:33:23.980 2013 there was a huge corruption scandal happened in Turkey and President Erdogan and his family was

00:33:29.980 involved in it and that was the first time I came out said something because this guy well this dictator

00:33:35.720 was going around and putting innocent people in jail and shutting down media outlets and I'm like I

00:33:40.660 don't care who you are but if you're fighting against free media I'm gonna say something so I

00:33:44.720 literally put a tweet out there because of the MBA platform it became a huge conversation and then

00:33:49.820 after that I'm like even one simple tweet can affect this much from now on I'm just I'm just gonna

00:33:55.420 study more and see what's going on in my country so I started to speak up right first they they sent

00:34:02.240 me a lot of warnings you know they my dad uh was a professor he got fired from his job my sister went

00:34:09.320 to medical school for six years and she still cannot find a job I think like the saddest one was my little

00:34:14.260 brother because he wanted to be like me like it'd be like his big brother play basketball and MBA but

00:34:19.460 because of the same last name he was getting kicked out of every team so they were getting pressure so

00:34:24.820 much they had to put a statement out there and said we are disowning NS actually the latter is still

00:34:31.200 out there on the internet so the Turkish government didn't believe that they sent police to my house

00:34:36.940 in Turkey and they raided the whole house and they took every electronics away phones computers laptops

00:34:42.800 iPads because they wanted to see if I am still in contact with my family or not so they couldn't find

00:34:48.620 no evidence but they still took my dad in jail for a while but thanks to our politicians and our

00:34:54.520 American media we put so much pressure on them they had to let him go but and then you know they

00:35:01.240 revoked my passport they um they put my name on interpolis I am now only allowed to go to 29 countries

00:35:08.000 in the world if I go anywhere else and if that country has an extradition deal with Turkey they

00:35:13.900 have to send me back and just recently back in 2023 I believe I met with the Pope and obviously became a

00:35:22.480 huge conversation it became viral and then I literally the next day um they put a bounty on my

00:35:29.180 head so um I had a conversation with the FBI they said you have to come to America immediately and then

00:35:36.700 I came to America and then and now like everywhere I go I have to let the FBI know you know so um the

00:35:43.720 reason that they're not uh well I'm not allowed to go to Turkey because I have a 12 arrest warrant for me

00:35:49.240 uh by the Turkish government but they're not allowed to go because my dad was in jail they took

00:35:53.780 their passport away and um and now they're in a situation that they're being watched all the time

00:35:59.180 I mean I can't even you know call up my mom or dad because they listen everything and they track down

00:36:06.640 everything so if I like if I want to send my family money or anything I have to send my brother money

00:36:13.800 which plays basketball overseas and my brother sends my family money because if it goes directly

00:36:19.520 from me to them it's like an act of terrorism in Turkish government's eyes you know unbelievable

00:36:25.460 so that's nothing like me losing my career basketball whatever is nothing compared to what happened with my

00:36:33.320 family well unbelievable uh do you ever foresee now you know Ottoman Empire goes out Ataturk comes in

00:36:42.340 wants to create a secular state okay now we've got Erdogan you know a bit more of a Islamist bent

00:36:49.280 do you do you feel that the Turkish population in the same way that we hear let's say about Iran oh you

00:36:55.520 know Iran has been held hostage by the Islamic uh you know government since 1979 but they are actually

00:37:03.340 very pro-West pro-Jewish pro-America do you feel a similar dynamic in Turkey or much of the population

00:37:11.460 is brainwashed to believe all the nonsense so I go I go both sides so way before Erdogan Turkey

00:37:18.440 was actually it was becoming more democratic they were going for European Union uh values Western

00:37:24.840 values and I was like this this is actually beautiful you know because Turkey is the is the

00:37:31.420 only Muslim uh NATO ally you know and it's this they have the second uh biggest military in NATO so

00:37:39.840 Turkey plays a very strategic role in the Middle East in Europe everywhere but after Erdogan you know

00:37:46.220 take over it just I mean people are like so they there's nobody that can go against them and there

00:37:54.280 was like uh Istanbul mayor I don't know if you heard about him Ekrem Imamoglu he was this one charismatic

00:38:00.320 leader that can like that will just go against him he was getting a lot of support millions of people

00:38:05.000 that said you know what finally we have a leader that can go against Erdogan and literally he put

00:38:10.780 him in jail is he still a Kurdish guy in Demirtash wow boom jail so uh Turkey's been held hostage by

00:38:24.240 Erdogan for sure just like Iran um you know I mean I love like don't get me wrong man I love Turkey

00:38:31.920 I love my country I love my flag I love my people um you know the the reason I'm giving this fight is

00:38:38.140 because of I want Turkey to be free again you know when you think about Turkey right now like I like

00:38:44.840 it's so sad when you think about Turkey you think about a government that Erdogan government that helps

00:38:51.900 terrorist organizations out there like like Muslim Brotherhood Hamas he actually gives passports to

00:38:59.000 these um to these terrorist leaders so they can't go in and out of uh European countries

00:39:04.720 he threatens the whole Europe he let I believe around 10 million refugees in and he tells the

00:39:11.000 he tells European countries if you don't listen to what I have to say I'm gonna let all the refugee

00:39:14.900 goes you know and if you're a country I'm like you don't want that you don't know if they're like

00:39:18.860 an ISIS supporter you don't know if they're like a like Hezbollah supporter you know what I mean

00:39:22.500 so he threatens the whole Europe and now it's like I feel like like this is enough with the condemning

00:39:29.040 I feel like we need strong leaders that's going to come out and said enough is enough

00:39:34.260 I'm tired of condemning we've got to start taking actions against Erdogan's regime

00:39:39.400 how much of his so for example if you look at okay the Islamic regime in Iran they're very much

00:39:45.520 animated by you know their religious ideology if you look at Bashar al-Assad or if you look at

00:39:51.420 Saddam Hussein I mean yes they were Muslim but they didn't really care so much about Islam I just

00:39:56.760 want to be the thug of the region and and steal everything and I'm just a dictator yes I'm Muslim

00:40:02.360 but being Muslim is incidental to the fact that I am a dictator who now in Erdogan's case you can kind

00:40:08.860 of see a bit of both of it on the one hand he's he's a dictator who just wants to always be in power

00:40:13.800 but he also seems to be very much animated by sort of a a rather extreme version of Islam

00:40:19.980 is it both or is it one how do you how do you define in in many countries it's the easiest way

00:40:27.360 to brainwash people you know this guy Erdogan for example right when he goes to rallies he speaks for

00:40:34.640 one hour and then he holds he holds like a religious Quran and he's like whatever I'm doing

00:40:41.640 I'm doing for the name of God so if I'm stealing support me if I'm God wants it in jail support me so

00:40:48.580 so the Islam is not the problem the religion itself is not the problem but the politicians are the

00:40:54.020 problem because they're using um they're using religion to brainwash people and and all these

00:41:00.780 people who are uneducated they're like wow look at the look at our leader you know he's religious

00:41:06.020 he's holding Quran he prays five times a day which I don't even believe that he he does um he

00:41:14.160 turned haji sofia into a mosque yes um he does so like it's the easiest way to brainwash people

00:41:22.100 so I want to make this very clear the religion itself Islam is a peaceful religion is not the problem

00:41:29.400 is the these politicians who uses this religion to brainwash people you know and it disgusts me

00:41:37.340 because like this is like literally God will like punish you for it you know and that's exactly what

00:41:44.020 Erdogan does and many people right now believes it and also all those media outlets like look at like

00:41:51.100 Turkey supposed to be this like secular country but after Erdogan took off like all even like all the

00:41:57.240 journalists in jail all the media outlets who who says anything against Erdogan is in jail you know or

00:42:04.520 or shut down um so I don't know like I don't know why these you know countries are still like

00:42:13.660 condemning Erdogan because he does not care man we got to start taking some like concrete actions

00:42:19.880 uh against this regime so we can have a better Turkey uh free Turkey I hear you inshallah uh let me

00:42:30.320 ask you some some more positive stuff I mean because of course we we want to talk about all the the

00:42:35.720 difficult conversations that are in your book in the name of freedom October 7th go out and buy it

00:42:41.140 uh but let's talk I've got a former NBA star here so I would be remiss if I don't just talk some

00:42:48.640 you know just NBA gossip talk to us about you know who are some of the you don't have to name names but

00:42:57.000 you know what is it like on a daily basis to be an NBA player who are some of your best friends in

00:43:04.080 in the NBA what are some cool stories that you could share you know I met Michael Jordan and my god

00:43:10.560 you know give us some of that juicy stories I'm sitting here with a former NBA Boston Celtics star

00:43:15.880 talk to us I want to tell you the funniest story I've ever like witnessed in NBA so

00:43:20.540 um I was playing for Oklahoma City Thunder and obviously we have lots of like international

00:43:27.260 uh players we had this one player his name is Serge Ibaka yeah I believe he was from

00:43:33.200 Congo and he was an amazing player really athletic like you know he can defend he can block shot literally

00:43:40.180 like every uh everything and he was like he can't jump out of this world like that that crazy so they

00:43:47.740 he signed a contract right um he signed a big really big contract and when his money hit his account

00:43:55.460 he looked at it uh and he was like well not all the money that you guys promised is in my account

00:44:01.760 and then he went to talk to this one of this like a lady in the front office I'm like hey guys like

00:44:07.580 listen you promised me let's just say like five million but in my account there's only like

00:44:12.820 3.5 3.4 million right and the lady turned around is like well uncle uncle Sam got it

00:44:19.820 and he just got mad he's like what he turned around and left the left the office he went downstairs he

00:44:28.120 started to like knock um our GM's door and he opened the door and he's like this Serge Ibaka said

00:44:37.560 give me my money back and he's like what are you talking about and he told the story he's like

00:44:43.380 well you got my money but so the RGM's name was Sam Presti okay oh so he thought it was him

00:44:50.700 so I thought it was him he thought like well when they say uncle Sam the Serge Serge thought well

00:44:58.760 the Sam Presti got some of his money and he was just knocking his door give me my money back

00:45:04.040 like no there was and then he should sit him down and he's like listen uncle Sam is the government

00:45:09.300 and you gotta pay taxes and all that stuff I was dying man when I heard about that I was like this

00:45:14.860 is the funniest story ever yeah he should try to come to Canada and see what the taxes are here but

00:45:19.740 oh yeah yeah no I heard about that but um the other story was so I was a rookie right

00:45:27.300 and uh this is 2011 2011 well 2012 because we had a lockout in 2011 so we started the season really

00:45:38.260 late and um we played the playoffs in 2012 and uh our first uh round was against um um

00:45:47.560 said this first San Antonio Spurs and obviously as a rookie you want to show yourself it's your first

00:45:53.400 playoff games and our starting big man got in fall trouble and I had to go in and guard team

00:46:00.900 Duncan obviously one of the best power forward of all time and um I walked in and this guy like

00:46:08.600 put his head out I was like he shook my hand I'm like oh my god it's like very nice he's like hey man

00:46:13.560 how are you doing how's your family how are you adjusting I'm melting inside team Duncan is having

00:46:19.300 that conversation with him I'm like oh my god so and then after that like every position he was just

00:46:25.680 like asking me a question and he was giving me tips and then after that coach called a timeout

00:46:31.260 our starting big man literally just grabbed me by my like jersey he's like what are you doing I was

00:46:37.280 like what I'm just having a conversation with the legend team Duncan he's like look up I looked up

00:46:43.200 this guy had like 40 points right he's like he's softening you up man stop do not listen to him

00:46:51.900 that's his trick and I'm like at that moment it hit me like this guy it's like a trick that like

00:46:59.780 the older people use is that like to soften up the rookies like hey man how you doing how's your

00:47:04.340 family and then you're like you're so nice but you turn the result bang bang so I mean we end up

00:47:11.340 losing that series and I learned a very valuable lesson um I use that trick on on a on the rookies

00:47:18.640 that was coming to the league a lot but uh that was like a big lesson but but no I'm a Russell

00:47:24.080 Westbrook was my really good friend Steven Adams he had this he has a gorgeous sort of mechanics and

00:47:30.580 when he shoots yes right oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah uh Kevin Grant Jason Tatum Jalen Brown Taco Fall

00:47:37.600 this guy's like seven six uh but you're the short guy next to him um exactly no no he's he was a giant

00:47:44.900 but no man throughout my NBA career I played 11 years and I had been I had an amazing time

00:47:50.340 and did you ever get so I've had on the show other than I mentioned these NBA players I've had

00:47:56.320 my childhood musical hero who was a the lead singer of uh the stylistics which are a very famous

00:48:03.740 soul group from the 1970s and when I had him on the show I asked him his name is Russell actually

00:48:09.920 Russell Hopkins Jr. I said hey Russell before I mean you're a legendary singer you've sang with James

00:48:15.360 Brown and Michael Jackson and the whole thing do you ever get nervous before you go on uh to sing

00:48:22.680 and he goes God I can't even my legs are going to buckle and I actually was very happy that he said

00:48:29.480 this to me and it's because I was then going to use that story to motivate my students when they're

00:48:36.200 going up to do public speaking and they're panicking I'm like hey the legendary singer gets nervous it's

00:48:42.520 totally normal to be nervous so having set that up would you get super nervous before games or after

00:48:48.360 a couple of years it's my job it's no problem so the first couple years um I was I was super nervous

00:48:54.400 because like you go front of like 20,000 people and it's not only like 20,000 like obviously because

00:48:59.560 of the social media millions of people out there watching you so if you get dunked on if someone

00:49:04.680 block your shot if you miss like a game-winning shot like literally it's embarrassing because like

00:49:10.100 um everyone talks about it on Twitter Instagram TikTok and and um that's like I feel like that's like

00:49:18.500 the most challenging part for an athlete like I had some teammates they used to go on their phone

00:49:24.100 in halftime and they used to like look at it on like what on Twitter what people said about it

00:49:29.000 wow obviously like these fans are sitting on their mom's basement and they were just tweeting crazy

00:49:34.900 stuff and that was like getting into people's head amazing and the second half they go out

00:49:40.040 like they they play terrible um no I have many teammates they used to throw up before the game

00:49:46.760 because they were so nervous wow um and now after like after a few years you get used to it

00:49:52.960 but the first couple years is the toughest thing um and also like people needs like all this what if

00:49:58.560 you if any athlete is watching this like or if any fans watching this especially like we are human

00:50:04.260 beings as well you know like they think like it's like a it's like a like a human circus right

00:50:10.520 whenever like they like they want us to go out there and entertain them fine we are doing it but

00:50:16.460 like well it's okay like we are human too we might have like problems we might have family problems

00:50:21.860 might have wife or girlfriend problems we might have I don't know like a bad day or we might be

00:50:27.460 sick so they want us to be our 100% every time we go out but like we are human beings as well you

00:50:32.480 know um I think that's the one thing that families don't understand like this is not a circus

00:50:37.780 um we are trying to entertain you guys out there sure but like we can't it's okay to have like a one or

00:50:43.620 two bad games don't bash us if we miss like a shot or if we get our block if our shot block or if we get

00:50:50.920 dunked on like it's okay you know so let me ask you this uh part of being human is that you often

00:50:57.340 will succumb to temptations so and I you don't have to mention names or you could mention names of

00:51:03.660 only people who who display the moral character to not succumb to those temptations so of course you

00:51:08.800 always hear about all the the beautiful women who hang around at every place because they want to

00:51:13.660 meet the the beautiful basketball players and they're rich and they're tall and the whole thing

00:51:18.920 did without you don't have to mention names but did you ever meet any family guy kind of Charlie

00:51:28.460 Kirk right I mean Charlie Kirk the reason why we all love him by the way he was a very good friend of

00:51:33.840 mine uh one of the reasons why I think people admire him other than his message and so on is that he

00:51:39.300 he lived a life that embodied all of the values right it's about his wife it's about his children

00:51:45.540 so were there many NBA players who were married who exhibited the Charlie Kirk morals or it is so

00:51:54.540 hard to be moral when you have the world's women thrown at you so I will say this you know I mean

00:52:01.660 myself I'm a man of faith um you know I believe in um you know to follow the the God's rule so so with

00:52:11.140 that I was fine I was very um you know I was following my religion I didn't do any of the crazy

00:52:18.620 things that my some of my teammates did um because obviously it's against my religion but but of course

00:52:24.820 I mean but there are so many of my teammates I believe I'll give you a number I probably I will say

00:52:30.240 like 85 90 percent of the um the athletes cheat for sure I mean as a rookie that was like one of my

00:52:39.100 duties um to to to have people's second phone oh I was gonna say that you're you're you're the you're

00:52:47.960 the excuse if the wife asks oh no he was with me so so whenever we go on we go on a road trip

00:52:56.920 right um they have they always have their second phone um that that no one knows about and whenever

00:53:04.340 we come back home I used to carry like five six cell phones and I used to go home and charge all

00:53:11.000 of it and the next road trip I had to bring it all and just pass it uh uh on the players but now

00:53:16.780 it's it's horrible man listen like some players I play with was like a really like loyal people but

00:53:22.320 like some players was like my god I don't know how they live with that guilt in their heart but would

00:53:29.060 you ever like so let's say you became friends very good friends again you don't have to mention names

00:53:33.500 but uh you became very good friends with one of those players so that you feel comfortable at this

00:53:39.220 point sharing let's say your disdain for his behavior would you go to let's call him Joe would

00:53:45.040 you go to Joe and say hey I think we're close enough for me to say man how why are you doing

00:53:49.480 this you look at the beautiful wife you have or you never sort of crossed that line oh of course

00:53:54.680 many times I remember like when I was especially with the Knicks right we had this like on uh on the

00:54:01.340 plane uh on team buses we literally sit down and I was like debating with these players about like

00:54:08.000 dude like you have kids out there you have you know families out there you have wife out there like

00:54:12.720 like what are you doing you know and um and listen they just um they didn't have those uh values and

00:54:20.100 also like these girls are like like I want I hope like people like listen to this um and like learn

00:54:27.520 a lesson when I was a rookie uh the NBA one of the NBA players association did was it was so amazing

00:54:36.240 because they used to like bring older players to um to give us like lessons and the first lesson was

00:54:44.520 watch out for those uh girls that's out there to get you that was I get you fall pregnant and now

00:54:52.560 you're screwed exactly I'll give like a couple story it was just gonna blow your mind um so all the

00:54:59.640 rookies are sitting down there was this old player I can't remember his name there was this like one old

00:55:04.880 player walked in and he's like listen one day he was uh at a club and he was just having fun

00:55:12.780 and he met with this girl he took her back to her at his uh his hotel um and then they were just

00:55:20.640 start like you know like messing around and stuff and then she told him that like you know she likes

00:55:26.420 it rough blah blah whatever I don't want to go into details and stuff and he was just he was very rough

00:55:32.140 on her right and then after when they were done she dressed up and she's like she looked that in the

00:55:38.520 that in his eyes and said listen uh I need can I guess hold on hold on can I guess uh for one

00:55:46.620 million dollars I don't go see the cops that you raped me exactly yeah there you go he said he looked

00:55:54.160 that in his eyes and said listen if you don't write me a check for 100k I'm calling the cops and

00:55:58.540 said you raped me listen man he has to do it he has to do it like think about this 100k is nothing for

00:56:06.600 him yeah you know why because he has so many endorsement deals on the line he has so he he said

00:56:12.060 he has so many contract he has a family he has kids so like even if she asked a million he has to

00:56:19.380 write it and also that's going to be all over the internet that that is nothing like that if I don't

00:56:26.680 want to like I don't know it's like probably like some kids are watching this uh this this clip

00:56:32.640 keep it clean keep it clean yeah trust me this is like this was not this was like this story was

00:56:38.600 like two I know like nine ten if I tell you you will just you'll tell me offline offline okay so

00:56:45.300 this is crazy man so that's why like people need to be smart man um but I'm glad I've never faced

00:56:51.260 anything like this throughout my career um never drank never never had uh never had any of the things

00:56:59.340 that is that against my uh religion um so that um I'm I can I can proudly say that you know my

00:57:06.580 religion played a very important role in my uh career that's that's beautiful all right uh last

00:57:12.220 question although I could keep you here for another five hours uh I asked this exact question to Jonathan

00:57:18.240 Isaac and his answer was brutally honest maybe you're going to be as uncharitable to me you and I

00:57:26.240 step on the court I am Messi's height I'm 60 years old we played a 21 is there any chance in the world

00:57:34.860 that I get a single point or there's zero chance listen we can try can you imagine how viral it goes

00:57:43.940 you and I stand together on the court now maybe you could be a bit charitable to the Jew and fake

00:57:50.560 that you fell one way and I could score one point will you give me that like you know what I will

00:57:55.580 let you score a point because I'm a nice person but then after that you know I'm actually a very

00:57:59.660 good soccer player are you oh my god are you I love soccer more than basketball hold on a second

00:58:05.860 are you so confident in your soccer abilities that you actually think that you're a better soccer

00:58:12.780 player than me 100 like with basketball I'll let you like you might like get a crazy shot and make

00:58:19.860 a basketball with soccer man like think I'm I'm Turkish you know like I grew up

00:58:24.540 Turks are very good basketball in the beginning I wanted to be a soccer player I was too tall

00:58:30.440 they were keep making me a goalie I had to quit soccer I started basketball but right now like if

00:58:35.920 you ask me like I don't watch basketball I watch soccer more than bad more than basketball all right

00:58:41.140 so I think I found the perfect viral moment you and I talked offline that hopefully I'm going to

00:58:46.880 invite you down to Ole Miss where I'm currently a scholar so we will do both the one-on-one

00:58:53.640 basketball and then the one-on-one soccer and let the internet expose deal I'm in man I'm in I'm in you

00:59:03.340 know what they'll be amazing actually and then we can have a conversation about this with the

00:59:07.300 students this is fantastic you are you know I said this about Charlie Kirk you know I'm a Middle

00:59:13.380 Eastern man so I'm not very happy to ever imagine my daughter marrying any man all men are evil

00:59:21.520 disgusting diabolical I never want a single man to even look at my daughter but I said about Charlie

00:59:28.100 Kirk that he is so lovely that he's the type of guy that I might imagine him marrying my daughter

00:59:35.620 I'm gonna add you to that list and it's that's an honor you're too tall and too old for her but if

00:59:44.440 you if you weren't that old you would be the kind of guy that I would want my daughter to marry

00:59:49.400 you know what though like the this like the culture of the Middle Eastern has like the food and the

00:59:54.780 music and the dances like listen man I wish I wish I could take all Americans or Canadians whatever

01:00:01.460 to Middle East for like for like for a week or two so they can taste the food man like I when I went to

01:00:08.440 like Jerusalem the food was even the hummus man it was just like it's different it's not like you eat

01:00:14.520 like the hummus you eat here it's not hummus if you compare the one in Middle East the falafel the

01:00:20.240 shawarma it just I don't know how to explain it it's unbelievable by the way I'll end with this note

01:00:26.000 two quick Turkish stories for you and I don't think I've ever mentioned this publicly number one

01:00:31.420 one of my paternal aunts so my dad has nine sisters and one brother there they come from a

01:00:40.520 family of 11 one of the sisters married a Turkish Jew and she's lived her whole life in Turkey I

01:00:47.860 actually went to Turkey when we lived in Lebanon I was around eight years old second quick Turkish

01:00:53.260 the first guy who hired me so when I first finished my PhD and my first job as a professor the chair of

01:01:03.200 our department who's now retired I'm going to mention his name because I'm honoring him his name

01:01:08.280 is Zeki Gedengel one of the absolute most elegant kind lovely man and maybe I would have never come to

01:01:18.260 my university were he not chair so uh I have nothing but love for Turkish people now I add you

01:01:25.240 to that love I appreciate that man and it's stay on the line so we could say goodbye offline thank you

01:01:30.060 so much best of luck with the book people in the name of freedom drops October 7th go on getting

01:01:35.520 thank you so much Enes of course cheers

01:01:37.860 cheers

The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad - October 09, 2025

Enes Kanter Freedom - Former NBA Star and Author of In the Name of Freedom (The Saad Truth with Dr. Saad_893)

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