Knicks' Enes Kanter Rips Bucks: 'You Don't Leave New York for Milwaukee'

The Milwaukee Bucks may be in better position to win moving forward than the New York Knicks, but that isn't enough to make up the difference between the two cities in Enes Kanter's mind. 

Kanter opened up on a number of topics in an interview with Royce Young of ESPN.com, including the time he tweeted and then deleted a deer emoji while he was deciding whether to opt into his contract with the Knicks.

"You gotta mess with the media a little," he said of the situation. "Because I know I was not going to go to the Milwaukee Bucks. It's the Milwaukee Bucks. Unless they give you good, good money, then go, but you don't leave New York for Milwaukee."

Kanter came to the Knicks as part of the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017. He averaged a double-double of 14.1 points and 11.0 rebounds a night while shooting 59.2 percent from the field in his first season with New York.

The big man said he was leaning toward not opting into the contract in April, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, but he ultimately opted into his $18.6 million player option for the 2019-20 campaign. The vast total was surely more than he would have garnered on the open market even with a solid showing in 2017-18.

From the Knicks' perspective, Kanter will produce in the frontcourt in a season that is likely not going to be competitive with Kristaps Porzingis still recovering from a torn ACL and then be off the books next offseason as they potentially look to add more pieces.

As for his opinion on Milwaukee, Bucks fans are surely going to greet him accordingly when the Knicks visit for the first time this season on Oct. 22.