Knicks’ Kanter to stay home fearing assassination attempts by Turkey

Center Enes Kanter will not travel to London for the New York Knicks’ upcoming international game because he believes he could be assassinated for his opposition to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Knicks later said Kanter also won’t make the trip because of a visa issue.

Kanter will stay in New York while the Knicks travel to face Washington Jan. 17 at The O2 arena in London. He says he can’t travel anywhere except the United States and Canada because “there’s a chance I could get killed out there.”

Kanter has been a vocal critic of Erdogan for years, once referring to him as “the Hitler of our century.” Kanter’s Turkish passport was revoked in 2017, and an warrant for his arrest was issued by Turkey.

Kanter is a follower of a U.S.-based Turkish cleric accused by Turkey’s government of masterminding a failed military coup in 2016.

Kanter said it would be “easy” for an attempt on his life to be made in London. “They’ve got a lot of spies there,” he added. “I think I can get killed there easy.”

76ers

Coach Brett Brown denied a report that Jimmy Butler was disrespectful while questioning his role in the 76ers offense. Brown dismissed the report. “I didn’t feel like any of that crossed the line,” Brown said. “He’s vocal. He’s all in and he has opinions, but it’s instigated by me. None of this should surprise anybody. He’s got opinions. He wants to be heard. And he should be heard.”