Enes Kanter has been one of the most valuable New York Knicks this season, and he can’t seem to understand his lack of minutes lately either.
Before the Knicks played the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Kanter spoke out about head coach Jeff Hornacek’s recent benchings of him down the stretch.
“I don’t know why,” he said, per The New York Post’s Marc Berman. “What’d [Hornacek] say? I have no idea why. I guess it’s a little weird. I have no idea. I look at the coach. He look at me. OK? I’ll sit on the bench.
“He did not [talk to me],” Kanter continued. “I’m ready [to play in the fourth]. It’s a little weird to me, too. I guess he’s trying to make everybody happy. That’s what he’s doing. The most important thing is if we’re winning or not. If we’re winning, we’re good. If we’re losing, there’s a problem.”
Kanter is at or near career-bests this season with 13.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game on 59.8 percent shooting. He is doing his damage in just 25.0 minutes a night though. Berman adds that Hornacek has often chosen to go with either backup big Kyle O’Quinn or a center-less frontline of Michael Beasley and Kristaps Porzingis late in games instead of Kanter.
On top of Kanter’s career year, he has proven himself as a teammate in New York as well, so you can see why he is struggling to grasp his limited usage.
