Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter said he wants to become an American citizen and that the United States "is my home now."
Kanter also said he has received numerous death threats -- mostly on social media -- and that he already had received two death threats Monday.
Kanter made his comments at a press conference Monday, two days after he was detained in a Romanian airport because his Turkish passport had been canceled.
Kanter reiterated that he believed his passport issue stemmed from his frequent criticism of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying Monday that "I know how bad of a man he is.