The relevance of Enes Kanter is being testimonial at this start to the season. The center of the Boston Celtics has only played 18 minutes of play spread over a total of three games.
Kanter, who has had no qualms about openly criticizing the governments of China and Turkey, hinted this Sunday on social media that there is a connection between his limited role on the pitch and his political stance off it. In fact, the Asian country vetoed Kanter a month ago for calling Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China, a “brutal dictator”.
However, Celtics coach Ime Udoka has quickly come to terms with these statements and dismissed the Turkish player’s idea that his absence from the rotation is due to his political statements. “It’s strictly for basketball,” said Udoka, according to the media NBC Sports Boston. “We are making a lot of changes and putting into practice situations that are not so natural for him. And that limits your time on the track. Nothing related to basketball will be based on what I say on social media. “
At 29, Kanter is averaging six minutes per game. This amount is by far the lowest of his career after the 13.2 minutes collected during his rookie year in the Utah Jazz jersey.
(Cover photo by Omar Rawlings / Getty Images)