Former Knicks Center Calls LeBron James ‘Dictator’ of NBA

It’s been two years since Enes Kanter Freedom stepped on an NBA court, but the former New York Knicks center is still making headlines.

In a recent interview on Outkick’s Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich, Freedom wasn’t quiet about his criticism of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

“Obviously, he runs the media, and he tries to control this narrative, but when you actually know and have a conversation inside of the NBA and its players, nobody wants to play with him,” Freedom said. “When I see a dictator, I know it – LeBron is literally like the dictator of the NBA. He controls the media, he controls his narrative, if you go against his agenda, you get traded, everybody knows it.”

The words come just weeks after LeBron’s son, Bronny, was selected with the No. 55 pick in the NBA Draft by the Lakers, becoming the first father-child pair to play together in the NBA. Freedom believes that Bronny isn’t talented enough to play in the NBA.

“He might be a good dude, but he’s not good enough to play in the NBA. The reason he got drafted is because of LeBron,” Freedom said.

Freedom also said that new Lakers coach JJ Redick was only hired because of LeBron, who he started the Mind The Game podcast earlier this year.

This isn’t the first time the former Knicks center has called out LeBron in an open forum. In 2021, Freedom called out the Lakers forward for his relationship with Nike, who had come under fire for forced labor laws in China. Then, in early 2023, he was interviewed by journalist John Stossel, where he once again criticized LeBron’s ties to China.

Freedom has spent most of his time as a celebrity using his platform to speak out against China and some of the harsh laws in the country, and that has soured him on LeBron and his role that he plays in the league. However, calling LeBron a “dictator” could very well be his harshest criticism of the league’s all-time leading scorer to date.

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