For voicing his political views, aspects of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Enes Kanter's personal life are ruled by incessant and harrowing controversy.
Since publicly disavowing current Turkish President Recep Ergodan, who Kanter labels "dictatorial," and instead affirming the ideology of provocative Ergodan-rival Fetullah Gulen, Kanter's world has shifted irrevocably.
Such choices have rendered the amiable 25-year-old a young man bereft of familial support and acceptance from his native country.
Disowned by his mother and father after pledging allegiance to Gulen —who Ergodan accuses of masterminding a failed 2016 coup to overthrow the Turkish government— Saturday, during a flight stop-over to promote his new charitable foundation, the NBA standout was held in a Romanian airport and returned to the United States.