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:
Back with the booyyss!!
Game Time!#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/vBv603TW4J— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) February 25, 2017
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.
