Last month, Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter punched a chair in frustration… and broke his right forearm.

Kanter was expected to miss 6-8 weeks, but returned ahead of schedule to play for the Thunder on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 24-year-old center pulled down seven rebounds in his 19 minutes off the bench, but struggled offensively, with four points (2-of-12 from the field) and four turnovers.

The struggles are certainly understandable when you consider the likely rust from a month off, and when you see how terrifying his arm looked just a few weeks ago.

Kanter shared photos pregame showing the progression of his arm recovery, and the initial post-surgery photo it’s not for those with a weak stomach:

Modern medicine is absolutely outstanding. Kanter went from Frankenstein’s monster to being able to actually play in NBA games in such a short amount of time.

When Kanter is back to himself, it will be a huge boost to a Thunder team that has mostly been The Russell Westbrook Show. Kanter was very good for the Thunder before the injury, featuring a 24.77 Player Efficiency Rating (PER) that ranks second among NBA centers.

The return of Kanter, along with the trade-deadline acquisitions of Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott could make the Thunder a dangerous team in the West. Oklahoma City (33-25) is currently the West’s seventh seed and just a half back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth seed.

[Enes Kanter on Twitter]

About Sam Blazer

Sam is a self proclaimed chess prodigy. He once placed seventh in the state of Ohio in Chess when he was in kindergarten. He will rarely if ever mention though that only eight people were entered in this tournament. Contact him at sblaze17@gmail.com