Enes Kanter Biography, Career Stats, Height, Weight And Other Facts

Quick Facts

Enes Kanter is a professional Turkish basketball center player who plays for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He was drafted by the Utah Jazz during the NBA draft of 2011 and was the third player to be selected overall. He completed his youth career in the Turkish Super League as well as EuroLeague before migrating to the United States. Read on, as we take you through Enes Kanter’s bio, career stats, and other interesting facts below.

Enes Kanter Biography

Enes Kanter first came into this world on May 20, 1992, when he was born in Zurich, Switzerland. His parents Mehmet Kanter and his wife Gulsum Kanter are of Turkish origin. His father works as a professor of histology at Trakya University, Turkey while his mother obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Zurich. He spent his early years in Switzerland before moving to the United States to further his education.

Kanter began his basketball career with the Fenerbache youth team at the age of fourteen. He played for the team for two years from 2006 to 2008. In 2009, he joined the Fenerbache senior team; nevertheless, he didn’t get a huge playing time. He featured in just nine games for the team during the 2008/09 regular season. At the end of the season, Olympiacos of the Greek League, as well as Feneberche, offered the youngster a professional contract but he rejected both after making up his mind to play high school and college basketball in the United States.

Kanter relocated to the United States in 2009 after which he enrolled at a prep school situated in Simi Valley, California. He played high school basketball for Stoneridge Prep School in 2009. The following year, he participated in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit, playing for the International team; he notched 13 rebounds while scoring 34 points in the competition to break ’s 1998 record. Although he committed to the University of Washington Huskies for his college career; Kanter went on to sign with the Kentucky Wildcats.

During his college career, he was declared ineligible by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after he received up to $33,000 from his former club Fenerbache in benefits. The NCAA stated that the amount was outrageous and beyond what is acceptable. He further appealed to the association but his appeal was out rightly rejected. The saga restrained Enes Kanter from playing basketball at the college level. He also announced that he would join the NBA draft of 2011 while forgoing his college eligibility.

Professional Career Stats

During the 2011 NBA draft, Enes was picked by the Utah Jazz as the third overall player to be selected in the draft. He signed his rookie contract with the Jazz on December 9, 2011, and made his first professional appearance for the Jazz on December 27 against Los Angeles Lakers. He played a total of 66 games for the Jazz in the 2011/12 season; thus averaging 4.2 rebounds and 4.6 points per game. The next season, Kanter recorded great improvement in his game and by the end of the season; he averaged 4.3 rebounds and 7.2 points per game. He had his career-high in 2013/14 season in their game against Milwaukee Bucks in March 2014. Kanter recorded a total of 27 points in the game and at the end of the season; he averaged 7.5 rebounds and 12.3 points.

During the 2014/15 regular season, Enes Kanter was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He made his first appearance for the Thunder in their 110 – 103 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Kanter scored 10 points while making 13 rebounds in the game. The star had an average of 11.0 rebounds and 18.7 points in the season. At the end of the season, Kanter became a free agent and later penned down a four year deal worth $70 million with the Thunder in July 2015. He recorded 8.1 rebounds and 12.7 points per game in the 2015/16 season. The following year, he had 6.7 rebounds and 14.3 points per game.

In September 2017, Enes was traded alongside Doug McDermott to the New York Knicks in exchange for Knicks’ . He made his debut for the Knicks while scoring seven rebounds and 10 points in their game against Oklahoma City Thunder in October 2017. By the end of the season, he had 11.0 rebounds and 14.1 points per game.

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His Height, Weight, and Other Facts

• Height: Enes Kanter has an incredible height of 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m).
• He weighs 111 kg which is equivalent to 245 pounds.
• Kanter is the second Knicks player after David Lee to record seven straight double-doubles in a season.
• He joined the University of Kentucky but didn’t play college basketball with them because of NCAA rules.
• He has two brothers named Ahmad and Kerem Kanter as well as a sister named Betul Kanter.
• His younger brother Kerem Kanter is also a professional basketball player for JL Bourg of the LNB Pro League.
• The Turkish star Enes Kanter sees himself as Stateless following the revocation of his citizenship by the Turkish government for his alleged support for a terror group called Hizmet Movement of Fethullah.

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