Enes Kanter Cleared to Return vs. Lakers After Injuring Arm Punching Chair

Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter will return to action Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers after recovering from arm surgery.

Erik Horne of the Oklahoman confirmed the post player is active for the Western Conference clash.

Kanter took to Twitter to announce his return:

Royce Young of ESPN reported Kanter returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since breaking a bone in his arm Jan. 26 after punching a chair during a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Head coach Billy Donovan laid out what the center needed to do to play against the Lakers:

"

If we get in practice here and he's not able to play post defense because he can't put his forearm on guys and prevent a guy from backing down, it's gonna be pretty clear he's not playing Friday. If he's having a hard time going up in traffic with guys slapping and reaching at him and he's in pain, he's probably not gonna play.

"

Kanter ended up missing 10 games across January and February after suffering the fractured right arm.

Now 47 appearances into the 2016-17 campaign, Kanter is averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds on 56.3 percent shooting as Oklahoma City's reserve anchor.

"Like I said since he's been coming off the bench, he's the best player in the league coming off the bench which means he's the Sixth Man (of the Year) in every year," Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook said in January, according to Horne.

Kanter should ultimately slide right back into his normal spot in the rotation as the first frontcourt player off the bench behind Steven Adams and new addition Taj Gibson, though they might work him back in slowly at first.

His presence in the post will be a welcome sight as OKC attempts to make a charge toward the fourth seed in the West playoff picture.