Enes Kanter Says Knicks Games Being Blacked Out in Turkey

New York Knicks center Enes Kanter said the team's games aren't being shown in Turkey due to his opposition to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Marc Berman of the New York Post passed along comments the former Oklahoma City Thunder post player made about the situation Friday.

"Last year, all 29 other teams were shown in Turkey, but no OKC games because of the politics," Kanter said. "Now they're showing every other games but not Knicks. The president is crazy. It's sad all those people not just can't watch me—on social media [they were tweeting], 'We want to watch Russ [Westbrook],' and they can't watch because of me. Now they can't watch Kristaps [Porzingis] because of me. They have to go to weird websites."

The 25-year-old center was born in Switzerland but holds Turkish citizenship and has represented the country at the international level. He also played for Fenerbahce in Turkey before coming to the United States.

In May, Kanter was detained at a Romanian airport for hours after it was discovered Turkish officials had cancelled his travel documents, per Victor Mather of the New York Times.

"If they sent me back to Turkey, probably you guys wouldn't hear a word from me the second day," he said. "The reason behind it was, whoever is going to try to go against the president, he's going to try to shut him down."

Kanter posted a statement on his official website in June saying his father had been arrested by the Turkish government due to the NBA player's "outspoken criticism of the ruling party."

Meanwhile, he was traded to the Knicks in September as part of the blockbuster deal sending Carmelo Anthony to the Thunder.

Kanter is off to a strong start in his first season in New York, averaging 14.1 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 63.6 percent from the field across eight games.