Enes Kanter Freedom of the Boston Celtics is officially an American, and he loves it—if his new last name wasn't evidence enough. The Celtics big man recently attained his US citizenship, before eventually legally changing his name from Enes Kanter to Enes Kanter Freedom. In an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Kanter expounded on his opinions regarding the state of freedom among people, both globally and in the US. The interview between Kanter and Carlson can be watched via Justin Baragona's Twitter.

Via Justin Baragona:

“It seems like people who move here from countries that are not free appreciate the freedoms here much more than a lot of us who grew up with those freedoms. Have you noticed that?”

Kanter—a former Turkish citizen—was himself detained in Romania after the cancelation of his Turkish passport, allegedly due to his political opposition against Turkish President Recep Erdogan. This happened in 2017, and the US State Department had to get involved on Kanter's behalf.

In the interview with Tucker Carlson, Kanter would go on to say:

“You know, I'm just gonna say this and I'm gonna be honest. People should feel really blessed and lucky to be in America. Because, they love to criticize it [the US], but when you live in a country like Turkey or, you know, China, or somewhere else, you will appreciate the freedoms you have here. So I feel like they should just, please—they should just keep their mouth shut and stop criticizing the greatest nation in the world and they should focus on, you know, their freedoms and their human rights and their democracy.”

Strong words for Kanter, who has been a potent voice speaking out against China with regard to human rights issues in Tibet and Hong Kong. Kanter infamously called out LeBron James for his silence on China, which the Celtics center has criticized.