Enes Kanter’s availability for Wednesday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Toronto Raptors has been in doubt due to fears stemming from Kanter’s outspokenness against the Turkish government. For the first time in his career, Kanter will travel north of the U.S. border along with his team to provide another healthy body in the frontcourt.
Thanks to the Canadian government, @EnesKanter writes in the @globeandmail, the @Celtics big man/Erdogan critic will play his first overseas game in years in Toronto against the Raptors on Christmas Day, despite Turkey's Interpol Red Notice against him: https://t.co/ckLv5EE47N
— Adrian Lee (@AdrianKLee) December 23, 2019
Enes Kanter detailed his journey and some of the hurdles leading up to this event in this opinion piece, so if you’d like more information on his perspective on the non-basketball side of things, you can take a look there. From a basketball perspective, Enes Kanter’s availability will be a big help for Boston, especially with Kanter putting together his best stretch of the season over the last few games.
In the last two games, Kanter has totaled 31 rebounds while also providing bench scoring for Boston’s injury-riddled roster. There’s optimism that Gordon Hayward will return on Wednesday while Marcus Smart is also nearing his return. For Robert Williams III, he still has a little while before his projected return from a bone edema arrives.
The Boston Celtics will travel to face the Toronto Raptors in a marquee Christmas Day matchup at 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday on ESPN.