His relationship with Utah is, I think, a little bit silly. I’m not real sure exactly what went on there, but Enes is a great guy. Utah is a great organization. I was here with Enes. There was never any big incidents or anything like that. – OKC wing man Steve Novak
SALT LAKE CITY — When he returned to the Beehive State for the first time as a foe last March, Enes Kanter admitted that he'd been frustated in Utah for three and a half years, claimed that the Jazz organization wasn't as professional as Oklahoma City, confessed that he "didn’t bring it every night" and said he didn't have many friends in his first NBA home.
Did he miss anything about Utah?
"The mountains," he said. "I guess."
Jazz fans who enjoy those mountains on a daily basis missed a chance to boo the heck out of Kanter for a second time on Tuesday night. The Thunder center sat out to rest up for the debut of the regular season next week.
Per OKC policy, Kanter's absence from the lineup gave him a pass from facing the press during this Utah visit. New OKC coach Billy Donovan claimed that Kanter not playing (or being required to talk to Utah media) didn't have anything to do with his bitter past with the Jazz.
"No, I haven’t gotten into a talk with Enes about any of that stuff in the past," Donovan said. "Him sitting and resting has nothing to do with him playing here early in his career."
Does it Kanter?
(Crickets chirp. Tumbleweeds roll. Fans boo. Kanter keeps mum.)
Former Jazz forward Steve Novak wasn't afraid to address the Utah media during this preseason visit.
Novak was Kanter's teammate in Utah and they're both on the same team again in Oklahoma City, so he has a pretty good perspective of the Big Turk and the Jazz.
Novak's assessment of what happened last spring when, after receiving a demanded trade, Kanter disrespected all things Utah — from management, to his old team, to fans, to the community — and then the Jazz crowd responded with heckling and booing en masse in his return to EnergySolutions Arena?
Simply put, Novak isn't impressed.
"His relationship with Utah is, I think, a little bit silly," Novak said, speaking frankly about Kanter. "I’m not real sure exactly what went on there, but Enes is a great guy. Utah is a great organization. I was here with Enes. There was never any big incidents or anything like that."
The biggest incident in Kanter's mind was that he wasn't getting the opportunity to shine like he and his camp believe he's capable of doing. Despite being picked third overall by the Jazz in 2011, he was so frustrated with his situation that he asked for a trade through the media before the All-Star break in February.
Knowing that Rudy Gobert was capable of patrolling the paint far better than Kanter, the Jazz acquiesed and shipped the young Turkish center to Oklahoma City in a midseason deal.
Novak, who said he has a "great relationship with Enes," believes both sides are better off — and will improve if the "silly" behavior ceases.
"I think it became bigger than what it was, and I think Enes played to it, kind of got a little bit of what he deserved when he was coming out with intros. That's the nature of it," Novak said.
"I think it's great to see the (Jazz) fans respond that way. It's great that it got Enes a little wound up. It's in the past and I think both parties have moved on."
Novak understands why Jazz fans — and his old friends on Utah's team — were riled up by Kanter's dismissive comments.
"When someone responds like that, it definitely gives the fans a reason to come out and boo ya. ... It also gives the home fans a reason to respond well to the Jazz and for them to get excited," Novak said. "I don’t think it was a smart move for him to go and get another team going like that, but I think it's over."
By the way, another of Kanter's teammates, NBA superstar Kevin Durant, came to his defense — about his defense — before Tuesday's Jazz-Thunder preseason game.
"I never really got that one — that he doesn’t play defense. He’s a big body. He covers up the paint," Durant said. "That’s just a narrative that everybody, I guess, they criticize him for that he wasn’t about (when he left) the Utah Jazz."
And Kanter's opinion about what his teammates said?
You'll have to ask him yourself.
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