Ian Begley: The Knicks say Enes Kanter (back spasms) is questionable for tonight’s game against Houston. He missed last night’s loss in Atlanta due to the back ailment.
More on Enes Kanter Injury
Enes Kanter took the blame for the Knicks’ 116-104 loss to the Hawks because he was “in the locker room crying like a baby.” Kanter woke up Friday with severe back spasms. He said he couldn’t walk but wanted to play through it. The Knicks held Kanter out, and his presence was missed. Kanter said that if he had played, he could have been out multiple weeks.
Al Iannazzone: Enes Kanter has back spasms and will not play tonight
Enes Kanter: I know man, I hate them chairs too 💺 Be careful tho 🙄
Kanter underwent surgery on Friday and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, but could miss up to two months, according to league sources. "I don't want to put no pressure on myself or the medical staff or anybody," Kanter said of his timetable. "I just want to get healthy and get back on the floor as soon as possible."
"Of course it's like a really sad thing because like, I mean because you're letting your teammates down when you make a mistake like that," Kanter said. "I mean your coaches down and stuff. But the only thing you can do is just, you know, you learn from it. The one thing you know I wish we could go back time and then I could take it back. But mistake happens and we just got to learn from it and control your emotions."
"They were just making a lot of jokes about it," Kanter said. "I remember someone on a website did an interview with the chair and asking it some questions. A lot of people just making fun of the chair and all this stuff. You know, people are going to talk and there's nothing you can do about it except get back on the court as soon as possible."
Royce Young: Enes Kanter had surgery on his fractured right arm this morning and will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.
Oklahoma City center Enes Kanter sustained a fractured forearm after punching a chair on the Thunder’s bench on Thursday night, a self-inflicted injury that could sideline him six to eight weeks, league sources told The Vertical. Kanter, the Thunder’s second-highest-paid player at $17.1 million a season, fired his fist into the empty chair in frustration on his way to the bench during a first-half timeout in Oklahoma City’s 109-98 victory over Dallas.
"It's tough, man, especially to do it the way he did it, it's very unfortunate," Russell Westbrook said. "He's a strong man, and he'll be back better.
"Something like that, bro, he didn't mean to do it, obviously," Steven Adams said. "It was just one of those really frustrating times and just happened to do what he did. He's already really hard on himself, like no one else can be as hard on Enes as he is on himself. He's probably just feeling so under the weather, just feel bad for him. But still a good man, give him some time, and he'll be back."
Adrian Wojnarowski: After punching a chair on bench tonight, there's a fear OKC's Enes Kanter fractured his right hand, league sources tell @TheVertical.
