Celtics big man Enes Kanter has drawn a lot of attention in his campaign against the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping.
Over the past few weeks, Kanter has taken it upon himself to draw attention to Taiwanese independence and China’s alleged human rights violations against certain ethnic groups.
Unfortunately for Kanter, as he wages war off the court, his role on the court has taken a noticeable slide.
In fact, Kanter has played in just two games all season, with his average coming to just 5 minutes.
On Twitter, Kanter sent out a cryptic tweet, seemingly taking a shoot at Celtics coach Ime Udoka for not playing him at all.
“Keep limiting me on the court, I will expose you off the court…”
https://twitter.com/EnesKanter/status/1459932802904903692
Udoka did later respond to Kanter’s tweet.
“I’ve talked to him, and I saw (his posts),” Udoka said at the Celtics shootaround on November 16th, via Mass Live. “The thing I tell players is that we have a lot of guys that aren’t playing that could be playing and want to play. I’ve talked to those guys about staying prepared and being professional and ready to play. I’ve been through the same situation as a player,” Udoka added. And I’ve talked to Enes about the reasons he’s not playing as much in some of the things we’re doing, defensively, in areas for him to improve on.
At the same time, it’s not just the result of what he’s not doing,” Udoka said. “The other guys are doing it well. We have Al and Rob, which are kind of amazing. And then, for me, Juancho, Payton, Jabari sometimes, we have a lot of guys who are qualified and want to play and they’re competitive, so they start you want to find them minutes, but the other guys play well and – according to Enes – it’s purely basketball.”
Udoka confirmed that Kanter’s minutes have nothing to do with the stance he has taken on China.
“I don’t have social media. I’ve heard of some things but guys have the right to express their views, and I’ve said that from Day 1,” he proclaimed. “Nothing basketball-related will be based on any of that.”
Needless to say, tensions are high in Boston right now, and their lackluster record certainly doesn’t help.
Whether Kanter gets any playing time or not, the Celtics have a lot to figure out if they want to cement themselves as contenders in the East.
