Halal loving Enes Kanter during the second half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on February 8, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Thunder defeated the Suns 122-106. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder are in town, the business for halal-serving locations tends to boom. That is because the Thunder are making halal their go-to food choice after falling in love with it.

It all started with the Thunder acquiring backup center Enes Kanter, who is Muslim and adheres to a special diet based on his religion. The Thunder have gone above and beyond in respecting Kanter’s dietary needs by having team cooks follow halal standards by using separate knives and ensuring the meat used falls in line with halal standards of being raised and slaughtered properly. As explained in a feature story from The Wall Street Journal, it did not take long for Kanter’s specially cooked meals to became a favorite of his teammates.

Steven Adams got the ball rolling by simply asking if he could try Kanter’s meal one day. From there, Adams was hooked and started asking the Thunder chefs to prepare some halal for him as well.

“Pretty much as soon as he came in,” Adams said, “I just told him that I’m eating his food, so I told the guys to order double.”

Then Russell Westbrook started digging in. And Serge Ibaka. Soon enough, the Thunder were busy doing research of halal restaurants around the league to make sure they could satisfy the cravings on the road.

Fortunately for the Thunder and their halal-loving players, being able to meet those demands has become increasingly more manageable with the rise in halal options in the United States. More than 8,000 restaurants have popped up in the country, a dramatic rise from the roughly 200 estimated to be on record in 1998. So which city has the best halal to offer?

“Boston?” Kanter said.

“Boston was good, wasn’t it?” Adams said. “Boston was the best city. I don’t know the top five, but Boston was definitely No. 1.”

Not everyone on the Thunder is on board with the halal takeover though. Kevin Durant sticks to his normal chicken and brisket and rib meals, but he has some fun with the conversation.

“I think it’s bull—,” he joked after a recent practice. “I’ve been here for nine years and I requested some stuff after the game and I have to pay for it on my own. And the second he gets here he gets his own menu.” Durant’s faux-outrage, however, may come from his personal taste for the food: “It’s nasty to me,” he said.

To each their own, I guess.

[Wall Street Journal]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.