Kanter returns with fond OKC memories
The welcome from the crowd was as good as Enes Kanter could have hoped. The one from Steven Adams was a little better than he expected.
The Thunder’s 105-84 win against the Knicks on Thursday at Chesapeake Energy Arena was the season opener for both teams and the first game back in Oklahoma City for Kanter and Doug McDermott since they were traded last month for Carmelo Anthony.
Kanter got a long, loud ovation when he was announced among the Knicks starters. And he didn’t get the hard elbow he’d been promised from Adams, his former teammate and Stache Bro.
“He was just kind pushing me and elbowing me a little,” Kanter said. “It wasn’t really nothing hard.”
Adams had promised something more aggressive in a text exchange earlier in the week, when he told Kanter “I’m gonna elbow you from the jump ball.” Instead, they exchanged some friendly trash talk, and Adams was waiting for Kanter outside the Knicks’ locker room for a postgame chat.
It had been “weird,” Kanter said, returning to Oklahoma City as an outsider. He went in the visitors’ locker room at The Peake for the first time since he played for the Utah Jazz, he said, and proclaimed it “the best visiting locker room in the NBA.”
It was similarly odd for McDermott. Though he played only 27 games for the Thunder, including five in the playoffs, he found himself attaching to OKC. On Thursday morning, he said it was a “tough conversation” with general manager Sam Presti when he learned he’d been dealt.
“It was an emotional deal,” McDermott said. “It was a deal that made sense for the Thunder. I know they’re in a really good spot now, and I think it’s a great opportunity for me in New York. So I think both sides kind of won the deal.”
The deal and the day were even more emotional for Kanter, who had grown into a fan favorite after the Jazz traded him to the Thunder in 2015.
Kanter said he’ll “never forget” the standing ovation he got before the game.
“For 2-1/2 years, I saw this state like my family,” Kanter said at Thursday’s shootaround. “I’m gonna say this every time — this state gave me a lot. Not just this organization, but the whole state gave me a lot.”
Patterson debuts
It took some time, but Patrick Patterson finally got to put on a Thunder jersey.
Patterson, an offseason free agent signing who missed OKC’s four preseason games after Aug. 10 surgery on his left knee, made his debut, starting the second quarter.
Raymond Felton also got back on the floor Thursday night. The Thunder’s backup point guard had missed the final preseason game after spraining his left wrist in OKC’s exhibition win against Melbourne United.