New York Knicks center Enes Kanter indulged in a “cheat day” after a long road trip, downing seven burgers and some fries 1-5 in their recent six-game stint away from Madison Square Garden. Kanter missed practice the following day due to “illness” — as teammate Mario Hezonja raised questions about his decision-making.
Kanter recently saw his time diminish in favor of second-year center Luke Kornet, only to see his minutes pick back up in recent games as trade rumors swirled around The Big Apple.
Yet this decision to “cheat” his diet with a giant fast food meal could have potentially done a number on his stomach ahead of a Friday night tilt against the Indiana Pacers and Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Kanter will skip the Knicks' road trip to London next week for fear for his life after the most recent attempts to keep him from traveling back to the United States after being stopped at a Romanian airport on his way back to the states.
“Sadly, I'm not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president,” Kanter said after the Knicks' 119-112 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, according to ESPN‘s Ohm Youngmisuk. “There's a chance that I can get killed out there. So that's why I talked to the [Knicks'] front office. I'm not going.
“It's pretty sad that just all this stuff affects my career and basketball, because I want to be out there helping my team win. But just because of that one lunatic guy, one maniac or dictator, I can't even go out there and just do my job. So it's pretty sad.”
His fast food venture might keep him out for longer than a game if Hezonja is right on his guess for the cause of his illness.