Enes Kanter Freedom dropped a bombshell on Fox News this week, claiming his direct messages are flooded with threats that he’ll be murdered just like conservative activist Charlie Kirk — a claim that left host Harris Faulkner visibly stunned.
“You really dropped something on us there, that’s a real threat, Enes,” Faulkner said during the Wednesday interview, calling the claim “very concerning,” especially given it came almost exactly one year after Kirk was shot and killed at a Turning Point USA event in Utah.
Freedom, who recently declared for the WNBA draft in protest of the league’s approach to transgender athletes, said critics have accused him of doing it all for attention — an accusation he flatly rejected given the volume of hate he says he’s received.
“Let me tell you something: my DMs are full of pictures and videos of the moment that Charlie Kirk got shot. They are saying that I am next very soon. This is unacceptable,” Freedom said. “I am getting death threats once every hour because of simply following the WNBA rules.”
Faulkner closed the segment by saying she would pray for Freedom and the country, calling the exchange “a shocker.”
The interview came a day after Caitlyn Jenner revealed she’d joked with Freedom about entering the 2027 WNBA draft herself at age 76, telling Fox News co-host Tyrus, “I’m like a real trans person. Maybe I should sign up.”
Freedom and fellow former NBA player Royce White have both made media rounds recently discussing plans to enter the WNBA. Freedom was previously ejected from a game after a confrontation with Chicago Sky player Natasha Cloud, who later said she was defending her community; Freedom has since sued the team over the incident.
The WNBA has faced a turbulent summer on the trans-athlete issue. Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham drew national attention in July after telling ESPN she doesn’t believe biological men who have transitioned should compete against women, sparking both praise and backlash — including from an opposing coach who wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt in protest. Cunningham was later hit with a vicious clothesline during a nationally televised game, though it didn’t stop her from belting out a country tune atop a bar the following week.
Freedom, for his part, insists his push to join the league is straightforward. “I identify as a woman,” he told Fox News, saying he simply doesn’t understand the outrage.
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