By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Boston Celtics‘ Enes Kanter shared a video recently which according to him, shows they – rookie teammate Tacko Fall was next to him – were verbally threatened and harassed by two men speaking in Turkish who were waiting for them outside of the Cambridge mosque.
This hasn’t been the first time Kanter – who has been very outspoken against Turkey’s leadership, specifically president Recep Tayyip Erdogan – faced something like this but it is the first time in the USA: “It was pretty crazy because this is America. You should be safe to come to a mosque and pray peacefully. It was the first time it’s happened to me in America. … It was crazy and scary… I was just scared. How about if they do something”, he said, per Boston Herald.
The 27-year-old noted that he won’t stop his campaign but will increase the security around him: “What I’m doing is huge because I’m talking about human rights. I’m talking about democracy, freedom, freedom of speech, religion, and expression. I’m talking about justice. So just because I’m talking about these issues and that stuff, I’m going to get threats? I’ll take that. I’ll be OK having security next to me 24/7. But those issues that I’m talking about are way bigger than myself and basketball.”
He did note also that a lot of support came his way from everyone in Boston: “If they start doing this in America, then I’m definitely in trouble. Because I should be safe in America. But I’ve had a lot of support from everybody. My teammates called me. My coaches called me. I got a text from the Mayor. I texted an attorney and a lot of the senators called me, and representatives and stuff. It definitely means a lot to me to see a lot of support from all the Boston people. … At the end of the day, I’ll be fine.”