Enes Kanter: Utah Jazz’s home crowd is the NBA’s worst

Former Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder big man Enes Kanter has some strong opinions about the crowd in Salt Lake City.

While the entirety of the NBA world has its eyes fixed on all the playoff action, at least one baller has a vested interest in the first-round match-up between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder. So much so, in fact, that he hopped a plane to OKC to watch Game 5 live.

The player in question: former Jazz and Thunder big man Enes Kanter. And if there were any doubts about which team he’s pulling for, it was erased before Wednesday’s game.

Speaking with The Norman Transcript’s Fred Katz — who’s one of the best in the biz, so don’t kill the messenger — Kanter said he’s cheering for the Thunder, NOT the Jazz.

If you’ve followed his career, that should come as no surprise. Kanter demanded a trade from the Jazz, the team that drafted him, back in 2015. Then, as a member of the Thunder, he looked up to Russell Westbrook as a mentor and was one half of the infamous “Stache Brothers” duo with Steven Adams.

He even showed up to Game 5 wearing a Stache Brothers t-shirt.

Getting back to the Jazz, though, Kanter had some strong opinions when Katz asked him about the Utah crowds. Simply put, he thinks they’re the worst.

Now, by worst, he could mean the best. I think he’s actually giving Jazz fans a compliment for their passion and intensity

…Or maybe not; you be the judge. Said Kanter —

“Let me tell you something, man. Their crowd might be the worst crowd to play in front of, because it’s just like — I know that crowd is just like, it’s terrible. Because I remember, they used to boo [former Jazz point guard] Deron Williams [after he left]. They used to boo me a lot. They used to boo a few other players, and then none of them had a really, really good game. If you got booed, you always have bad game.”

If you ask me, he’s matured a lot over the years. However, read a certain way, his comments could come across as inflammatory.

Speaking of, the former No. 3 overall pick also referenced an incident when a fan in Salt Lake City told him he was going to be kicked out of the country once Donald Trump was elected President as well. Nevertheless, in the same breath, he intimated that his relationship with the Jazz is much improved.

He went on to say he was still cool with Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and “a little bit” Rudy Gobert, despite the fact that the Jazz center trolls him on Twitter.

Kanter, currently a member of the New York Knicks, has a player option for next season.

Check out Katz’s full interview with him HERE.

• Published on 04/26/2018 at 10:27 PM MDT
• Last updated on 04/27/2018 at 11:59 AM MDT