Enes Kanter is not the most popular player on the OKC Thunder, but that hasn’t stopped him from being in the news all offseason.
Whether it’s on the court, social media or in real life, Enes Kanter likes to talk. Most of the time we fans appreciate his candidness – his recent slippage is not one of those cases.
Kanter went on The Timeout with Taylor Rooks on Thursday to discuss a wide variety of topics ranging from the Turkish government to pickup basketball. Kevin Durant was brought up at one point, and that’s why we gather here today.
"“I’m not going to tell who, but one of my teammates, a couple of weeks before that scrimmage game, said ‘if I see one picture with you and KD’, because he knows that KD lives in the same apartment [complex] as me, ‘don’t come back to OKC’. I’m not going to tell who, but he said that.”"
My initial thoughts were as followed:
- Wow, this is hilarious. I now have ammunition to continue my pettiness if I want.
- Hmmm, there’s not many players on the Thunder who were there when KD was.
- Oh no. There are only five (not including Kanter). Enes just started something.
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When the video came out of Kanter and KD playing pickup together, many (including me) figured it meant the beef was over. As more information came out, including that Kanter asked to be on different teams, we realized that there was still some ill will in Oklahoma City. Now it’s solidified as a full-on rivalry with genuine hard feelings.
Players understand that the NBA is a business – for somebody to be this upset means Durant burned bridges outside of the court. We know he didn’t call to tell Westbrook when he made his decision. What don’t we know about Durant’s departure?
Oklahoma City was blindsided by Kevin Durant. He left for the rival team, and did so without publicly acknowledging the organization or city that helped him blossom. For things to be this heated between the two sides it only makes sense that he didn’t thank them privately either.
If that’s why the anonymous player is so upset, I’m going to stand by him.