Enes Kanter

Enes Kanter

Left to right: Trey Burke, Patrick Beverley, Kanter and Gordon Hayward
No. 34 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born May 20, 1992
Zürich, Switzerland
Nationality Turkish
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school Stoneridge Preparatory School
(Simi Valley, California)
NBA draft 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Pro career 2008–present
Career history
2008–2009 Fenerbahçe Ülker (Turkey)
2011–2015 Utah Jazz
2015–present Oklahoma City Thunder
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Enes Kanter (born May 20, 1992) is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), he plays at the center position.

Early life

Kanter was born May 20, 1992, in Zürich, Switzerland,[1] while his father, Mehmet, attained his M.D. from the University of Zurich. Originally from Erciş, Turkey, his father is a professor of histology at Trakya University.[2]

Before moving to the United States, Kanter played under Serdar Apaydın's management for the Fenerbahçe Ülker youth squad between 2006 and 2008[3] and then, during the 2008–09 season, Kanter was a seldom-used reserve for the Fenerbahçe Ülker senior team.[4] He played in at least nine games with the team – four in the Euroleague and five in the Turkish Basketball League.[4] Fenerbahçe and the Greek League basketball team Olympiacos both offered Kanter professional contracts, but he declined because he wanted to play high school and college basketball in the United States.[1]

Prep school

In 2009, Kanter moved to the United States, where he enrolled at Stoneridge Preparatory School in Simi Valley, California, and played for the basketball team in 2009–10.[5] At the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit, Kanter played for the international team, recording 34 points and 13 rebounds.[4] His point total was a record for the event, breaking Dirk Nowitzki's record set in the 1998 game.[4] Both Rivals.com and Scout.com rated Kanter as a five-star prospect, the highest possible rating.[6][7]

College career

On November 23, 2009, Kanter verbally committed to play for the Washington Huskies.[1] Kanter chose Washington over UCLA, USC, Indiana and UNLV.[1] However, he re-opened his recruitment in February 2010, and on April 14, Kanter signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for Kentucky.[4][8]

However, despite signing with the Kentucky Wildcats, the NCAA declared him permanently ineligible as a collegiate athlete because he received approximately $33,000 from Fenerbahçe Ülker in excess benefits. The NCAA ruled that this amount was above and beyond what was considered acceptable.[9][10][11] On January 7, 2011, the NCAA rejected Kentucky's appeal, upholding that Kanter was permanently ineligible.[12] Without Kanter, Kentucky still managed to reach the Final Four in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2011–2015)

Kanter was drafted third overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2011 NBA draft. Upon being drafted, he said "I'm so happy, I'm so excited. I know the Utah Jazz fans are crazy and I love them. I will bring the team toughness and post moves, rebounding, everything. I will try to do everything to make the playoffs."[13] On December 9, 2011, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Jazz.[14] As a rookie in 2011–12, he became just the 10th Jazz rookie in franchise history to appear in every regular season game. He also recorded the most rebounds for a Jazz rookie on debut with 11 against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 27. On the season, he averaged 4.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in 66 games.

In 2012–13, Kanter improved his averages in every major statistical category, led the team in scoring three times and rebounding four times, and scored in double-figures 22 times. In 70 games (two starts), he averaged 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. On March 1, 2013, Kanter had the first 20-20 game of his career with career-highs of 23 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Jazz to a 98-68 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.[15] He later missed the final 10 games of the season due to a dislocated left shoulder.

In 2013–14, Kanter appeared in 80 games (37 starts) while averaging 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. On March 3, 2014, he scored a then career-high 27 points in an 88-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.[16]

On December 16, 2014, Kanter scored a then career-high 29 points in a 111-119 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.[17]

Oklahoma City Thunder (2015–present)

On February 19, 2015, Kanter was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team deal that also involved the Detroit Pistons.[18] Two days later, he made his debut for the Thunder, recording a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds in a 110-103 win over the Charlotte Hornets.[19] On April 1, 2015, he scored a career-high 30 points in a 131-135 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[20]

International career

Kanter made his debut for the Turkish national basketball team at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Italy. He dominated throughout the tournament, averaging 22.9 points, 16.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game. However, Jonas Valančiūnas was chosen as the MVP after he averaged 14.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 23.5 minutes. Kanter went on to earn MVP honors at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship after averaging 18.6 points and 16.4 rebounds while leading Turkey's junior national team to the bronze medal.[1] He declined to play for the senior national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship which was being held in Turkey as the team went on to win the silver medal. His father claimed he did this in order not to miss the first month of classes at Kentucky.[21]

Kanter played with the Turkish senior team for the first time at the 2011 EuroBasket. He appeared in eight games and averaged 9.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.[22]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he also played in domestic competition.

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Utah 66 0 13.2 .496 .000 .667 4.2 .1 .3 .3 4.6
2012–13 Utah 70 2 15.4 .544 1.000 .795 4.3 .4 .4 .5 7.2
2013–14 Utah 80 37 26.7 .491 .000 .730 7.5 .9 .4 .5 12.3
2014–15 Utah 49 48 27.1 .491 .317 .788 7.8 .5 .5 .3 13.8
2014–15 Oklahoma City 26 26 31.1 .566 .750 .776 11.0 1.1 .5 .5 18.7
Career 291 113 21.4 .511 .354 .750 6.4 .6 .4 .4 10.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012 Utah 4 0 10.8 .438 .000 .000 4.0 .3 .0 1.0 3.5
Career 4 0 10.8 .438 .000 .000 4.0 .3 .0 1.0 3.5

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2008–09 Fenerbahçe Ülker 4 0 7.8 .429 .000 .667 1.5 .0 .3 .0 2.0 1.8
Career 4 0 7.8 .429 .000 .667 1.5 .0 .3 .0 2.0 1.8

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Allen, Percy (November 23, 2009). "Huskies get commitment from 6-foot-10 Turkish star Enes Kanter". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Turkish Team Says It Paid a Top Kentucky Recruit
  3. ↑ Enes Kanter hakkında bilgilendirme (Turkish)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 DeCourcy, Mike (April 14, 2010). "Enes Kanter a revolutionary case for Kentucky, NCAA". SportingNews.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  5. ↑ Kanter to enroll at Findlay Prep
  6. ↑ "ENES KANTER". Yahoo.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Enes Kanter Player Profile News". Scout.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  8. ↑ Oregon prep star dumps Washington for Kentucky
  9. ↑ Kentucky's Enes Kanter ruled ineligible
  10. ↑ Kentucky forward Enes Kanter ruled permanently ineligible
  11. ↑ Enes Kanter's eligibility
  12. ↑ N.C.A.A. Denies Kentucky’s Appeal Over Kanter’s Eligibility
  13. ↑ Utah Jazz select Enes Kanter with third pick
  14. ↑ "Jazz Signs 2011 Lottery Picks". NBA.com. December 9, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  15. ↑ Notebook: Jazz 98, Bobcats 68
  16. ↑ Ilyasova scores 31, Bucks beat Jazz 114-88
  17. ↑ The Roundup—Jazz 111, Pelicans 119
  18. ↑ "Thunder Acquires Kanter, Novak, Augustin, Singler and Draft Pick". NBA.com. February 19, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Westbrook nets 33, Thunder top Hornets 110-103 minus Durant". NBA.com. February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Mavs beat Thunder 135-131 despite Westbrook triple-double". NBA.com. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  21. ↑ Enes Kanter's father says Turkish club is 'trying to make an example' of his son
  22. ↑ Enes Kanter (Turkey)

External links