A gruff voice from a few rows back greeted Enes Kanter as the Celtics center stood at the scorer’s table ready to check in.
“Remember your roots, Enes,” the fan said.
Kanter was born in Switzerland and raised in Turkey. He attended Kentucky for one year. Salt Lake City was his first NBA stop. He’s played for the Knicks, Trail Blazers and Celtics since his 2 1/2 season stay with the Thunder.
Kanter’s roots are more than 6,000 miles from Oklahoma City, where he lived as a steadfast Muslim in the Bible Belt. But inside Chesapeake Energy Arena on Sunday, Thunder fans welcomed Kanter as if he was a homegrown star.