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Enes Kanter: Immaturity and controversial path he took

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https://newsok.com/okc-thunder-enes...ketball-home-in-oklahoma-city/article/5409536

18-year-old Enes Kanter, the youngest player on an extremely young Kentucky team, was ruled permanently ineligible. “We even asked them: Can I sit out the first year and play the second year?” Kanter said. “Nope.”

Enes turned down that $6 million contract overseas — in basically a polar opposite move than the one made by Brandon Jennings and, most recently, U.S. prospect Emmanuel Mudiay — to come play in America for free. But the NCAA ruled he’d received $33,000 more in expenses than was necessary. “Can you imagine?” Enes said, still in disbelief.

“That’s something that’s definitely still sour with him,” current teammate and friend Steve Novak said. “With the billion dollar television deal (the NCAA has) and the $7.5 billion they’ve made in ad revenues just from airing the tournament, for that entity to be hurting kids’ futures based on small amounts of money being earned? I don’t really understand how it happens. Guys like Enes just play basketball and do it the way they do it where he’s from and it’s held against him here.”

Earlier than he would have liked, Enes was forced to enter the NBA Draft. But he was still considered a lottery pick. And after impressing in workouts, many figured he’d go top five. Cleveland had the first pick, Minnesota had the second. He flew out to both cities for a workout. But Utah had the third pick, and Enes didn’t want to go there.

It wasn’t anything against the Jazz organization, but rather the logjam of big men it already had in tow. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were the established starters. Turkish legend Mehmet Okur was the veteran backup. Derrick Favors, a young talent, had arrived the year before.

“They told me to come to Utah for draft practices. I didn’t go to Utah,” he said. “They came to Chicago. And you know how players meet in hotel rooms team to team. I didn’t meet with Utah.”

Enes was open about his desire to avoid that situation. He hadn’t played competitive basketball in two years. He couldn’t stomach a third straight season of relative inactiveness.

“I was so rusty,” he said. “I needed some minutes.”

Utah took Kanter anyway. The Jazz liked his talent. It made sense. But they had no way of relaying that message. The NBA lockout had hit. “No contact at all with the Jazz,” he said. Enes’ stay in basketball exile would last even longer.

When it finally lifted, Enes got some burn with the Jazz. But not enough for his liking. He averaged 13.2 minutes per game his rookie season and 15.4 his second year.

“I still feel like I wasted my time because I couldn’t play many minutes,” Enes said.

By his third season, Jefferson and Millsap were gone and Enes was getting the court time he coveted. But his relationship with Utah never fully mended. There was a certain distrust of organizations that was hard for him to overcome. He got a ruthless introduction to the business side of sports during his dealings with Fenerbahçe and the NCAA. The Jazz’s decision to draft Enes against his wishes, while understandable, may have made the relationship immediately irreparable.

Even though he’s long been in the public eye, Enes is still very young in age (22) and mind. He’s a huge Spongebob fan. Watches it all the time. “He really helped my English,” Enes says of the Nickelodeon cartoon character, sounding more like he’s referring to a friend. Enes has only had his driver’s license for a year. And he hates driving, opting to let Novak control his car whenever possible. “He thinks the highway exits are like deathtraps,” Novak says.

“I still don’t want to drive around these roads,” Enes says of OKC. “Because the exits are so curvy, I’m scared to drive. (Steve) is teaching me though.”

While in Utah — and during his recent return — he made his share of immature comments. He let the lack of playing time and outside criticism get to him. He hasn’t handled everything professionally.

“I just remember when I was that age how much more immature I was as a person and player,” Novak said, noting that he didn’t enter the league until he was 23. “Those (the Utah days) were like his college years.”

A few days before the recent trade deadline, he publicly demanded a trade. It was another comment that didn’t sit well with the Jazz faithful. But it was a split that seemed necessary for both sides.

Right before the deadline, Kanter was shipped to OKC in a trade that’s worked out for all parties. Utah freed up some time for the emerging Rudy Gobert and is playing its best basketball of the season. The Thunder secured an offensive center unlike any that’s come through here.

And Enes finally got the fresh start he’s been searching for since making the decision to come to America six years ago. “I felt like this kid was reborn,” Çinar, his close friend, said. “He’s a different Enes.”
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Wonder how Kanter has liked OKC lately. He's getting minutes, but not touches with Westbrook shooting every time he's within 30-ft of the basket.
 
Read that article the other day. Pretty much confirmed that Kanter is an immature selfish POS. he was butt hurt to be drafted by a team he did not want to go to. And never got over it. What a douche bag.
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Oh and wrong forum.
 
Tough to lose the "grass is always greener on the other side of the hill" mentality.
I wonder how long before he wants out of OKC, and has another "really good" excuse for doing so.
 
So he's a punk *** little whiney bitch who feels the world automatically owes him **** right from the get go? Not really that surprised. And good riddance. Can we get these threads moved to general sports? Mention of this ***** is polluting our good end of season vibe.
 
As bad as Kanter has handled everything, he was right about not wanting to play here. He wasn't going to get the playing time, and he knew it. We probably shouldn't have even drafted him. We didn't need another big man, and it led to the departure of Millsap. We probably should have traded out of the spot tbh. He made it clear he didn't want to be here. I'm not saying don't draft a player if they don't want to be here. Their value might be too high, and you just can't pass on it. But Kanter wasn't like a can't miss type of player. It was very risky. His athleticism was well below average and he was a big question mark. I think KOC probably felt a lot of pressure to draft someone because he sold off Dwill and we just won the lottery with the pick. But in hindsight it wasn't the right decision, and it could have been seen even back then. It didn't make sense at all to take him. Or if it did, then we should have been on the phones trying to trade Jefferson to clear up some room right away. But we didnt.


I think the lesson that needs to be learned here is that you have to be careful when building a team that you aren't treating it like video game where you can just load up on talent all the way down the bench. And expect it to work. Because eventually someone is going to be unhappy if they feel they deserve to play more. You'll just end up wasting assets. Which is what Kanter was, a waste of a high lottery pick. I bet we could have gotten more for the 3rd pick back then, than what we got for Kanter from OKC even after people knew he could play.


In this upcoming draft we face sorta the same dilemma. Adding a good wing player would be nice, but are we risking the same situation by having Burks, Hood, Hayward, Millsap, Ingles, and possibly another free agent clogging up the wing position.

It's possible. I just hope it's managed right. If we draft a wing, then we should be considering trading Burks or something in the near future. And/or don't even plan on signing Millsap and/or Ingles.

This year's situation is a little different though because the 12th pick comes with different expectations than the 3rd pick, so there's that aspect of it. But nevertheless, the 12th pick will be hoping/expecting to get some run.
 
I can see your point of view hack. But imagine if kanter had said to himself "well I don't really want to be in Utah but damn am I grateful I got into the NBA even after a couple of years of not playing really. And picked at #3? Awesome! I'm gonna bust my *** and take that PT away from those vets. They won't know what hit them." instead of "oh **** that I'm not paying D for even one second if they think I'm gonna lick their boots. **** them. They better give me all the PT up front or I'm checking out ASAP." where would we be then? And where would he be?
 
To be fair to Kanter, the draft sucks for the players and in some ways screws them over. Imagine graduating college, and instead of you picking the job you want, you are told, "hey, congrats, you are off to North Dakota for the next 4-8 or 9 years!"

That would suck, and I'd probably try to get out too. I don't blame Kobe for forcing his way to LA. I don't blame Eli for forcing his way to NY. Or Elway to Denver. If you can do it, do it. Kanter got his way. Let's see what he does with it.

Also, doesn't mean I don't hope Durrant and Westbrook leave and OKC ends up at the bottom of the West with Kanter leading them there.
 
Seeing yet another topic about Kanter on JF gives me stomach spasms every ****ing time. Let it go already.
 
Well he likes Spongebob for the chicks obviously

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Hack said:
As bad as Kanter has handled everything, he was right about not wanting to play here. He wasn't going to get the playing time, and he knew it. We probably shouldn't have even drafted him. We didn't need another big man, and it led to the departure of Millsap. We probably should have traded out of the spot tbh. He made it clear he didn't want to be here. I'm not saying don't draft a player if they don't want to be here. Their value might be too high, and you just can't pass on it. But Kanter wasn't like a can't miss type of player. It was very risky. His athleticism was well below average and he was a big question mark. I think KOC probably felt a lot of pressure to draft someone because he sold off Dwill and we just won the lottery with the pick. But in hindsight it wasn't the right decision, and it could have been seen even back then. It didn't make sense at all to take him. Or if it did, then we should have been on the phones trying to trade Jefferson to clear up some room right away. But we didnt.


I think the lesson that needs to be learned here is that you have to be careful when building a team that you aren't treating it like video game where you can just load up on talent all the way down the bench. And expect it to work. Because eventually someone is going to be unhappy if they feel they deserve to play more. You'll just end up wasting assets. Which is what Kanter was, a waste of a high lottery pick. I bet we could have gotten more for the 3rd pick back then, than what we got for Kanter from OKC even after people knew he could play.


In this upcoming draft we face sorta the same dilemma. Adding a good wing player would be nice, but are we risking the same situation by having Burks, Hood, Hayward, Millsap, Ingles, and possibly another free agent clogging up the wing position.

It's possible. I just hope it's managed right. If we draft a wing, then we should be considering trading Burks or something in the near future. And/or don't even plan on signing Millsap and/or Ingles.

This year's situation is a little different though because the 12th pick comes with different expectations than the 3rd pick, so there's that aspect of it. But nevertheless, the 12th pick will be hoping/expecting to get some run.
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Applaud for this post.
 
green said:
To be fair to Kanter, the draft sucks for the players and in some ways screws them over. Imagine graduating college, and instead of you picking the job you want, you are told, "hey, congrats, you are off to North Dakota for the next 4-8 or 9 years!"

That would suck, and I'd probably try to get out too. I don't blame Kobe for forcing his way to LA. I don't blame Eli for forcing his way to NY. Or Elway to Denver. If you can do it, do it. Kanter got his way. Let's see what he does with it.

Also, doesn't mean I don't hope Durrant and Westbrook leave and OKC ends up at the bottom of the West with Kanter leading them there.
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I agree with your point that the draft does that to talents, but it also brings some excitement to the whole thing like graduation or smth.

Also, the situation with Kanter was a bit of a hypocracy. I know he didn't want to play for Utah at the start. But after he came, he immediately started trying to become fan favorite and generous for the PT and role of vets and all. He could have opted not signing his extension after 2 years. Was that because he did not trust himself for having enough value to go where he wants? Probably. He was an immature kid and didn't know the first thing about many things and unfortunately mentored in a really weird way. But so many unplayed seasons and going into NBA draft, if a team picks you at a rare 3rd, they give you value and you will always be called as the 3rd pick instead of a 15th or so. It might not matter much in the later days of a player's career but it certainly does in the early stages.

So the attitude Enes put on while he was in Utah and the way he acts after leaving smells ungrateful and hypocratic. It is not about his age. It is about who he is. He sounds like he is really uneducated and inexperienced in life not to do crap like that. Life can be cruel to teach everyone about you can't take everything for granted though.

Either way, I was grateful for the trade and was hyped to see him play and succeed in OKC. But his last explosions and even bringing it to the city and the fans is not something I would root for, while I believe he owed Utah big for bringing him in and trying to mature him.
 
I think his (Kanter) opinion is irrelevant, everyone knows he's frustrated, immature, and young. His bad remarks have no authoritah...
 
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