Enes Kanter Freedom Tells Megyn Kelly NBA Officials Begged Him To Remove ‘Free Tibet’ Sneakers

Enes Kanter Freedom claimed two “gentlemen from the NBA” begged him to remove sneakers that said “Free Tibet” just moments before a game.

The backup Boston Celtics center has been vocal about several social and political issues of late, including human rights abuses in China.

“I remember wearing those shoes right before the game… two gentlemen came from the NBA and said, ‘take those shoes off,'” Freedom said in a new interview with Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM show. “I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ I was like, ‘I’m not taking the shoes off.'”

Freedom told Kelly despite his reluctance to remove the sneakers, the NBA persisted.

“They were like, ‘Listen, I’m begging you to take the shoes off,'” Freedom said.

Freedom said he asked if he was breaking any NBA rules, to which the staffers said he wasn’t. Freedom then replied, “There’s 27 Amendments. My first amendment is freedom of speech and you’re taking that away from me.

“Go tell your boss, I don’t care if I get banned or fined, I’m not taking the shoes off,” Freedom said he told the men.

Freedom, who played zero minuets that game, said he was allowed to wear the sneakers after standing his ground. “At halftime they came and apologized,” he said.

“I had a conversation with Adam Silver, I asked Adam, ‘I’ve been getting so much like blowback and so much pressure from the league, am I breaking any rules?”

When Silver replied that he wasn’t, Freedom said he replied: “Okay then, from now on I don’t want anyone to come from the league to tell me take my shoes off.”

Watch above via The Megyn Kelly Show.