Enes Kanter keeps crying wolf in the Blazers-Nuggets series

Enes Kanter is a solid NBA player, one who appears to have found a perfect home in Portland. He signed with the Trail Blazers in February, adding depth to the team’s front court.

Five weeks later, he was thrust into a much-bigger role when starting center Jusuf Nurkic was lost for the season to a gruesome leg injury. And he’s stepped up to the challenge, helping Portland beat Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs and giving the Blazers a viable option to throw at Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Couple his on-court performance with what he’s had to overcome away from the court, where he’s wanted in his native Turkey for his political beliefs, and Kanter should be one of the best stories in sports right now. He should be an easy player to root for; his story is that good.

But somehow, Kanter has managed to undermine the positive sentiment. It all started after a Game 2 victory in Denver.

During the game, ESPN.com NBA writer Royce Young noted that the Pepsi Center crowd wasn’t happy with Kanter. The masses were pretty tame, but one fan in particular took it too far.

Crowd is chanting "Kanter sucks!" and one yelled out, "Go back to Turkey, oh wait you can't!"

— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 2, 2019

Without a doubt, it was an inappropriate comment. But as Young mentioned in his tweet, it was a lone Nuggets fan acting that way. But Kanter fueled the fire when he responded to the tweet.

I wish I could go back to Turkey to see Family 😔
But I chose to support Democracy, Freedom and Human rights,
I am grateful for most Americans supporting that right. @nuggets take control of your fans.
This is hurtful 💔
Be grateful for the Democracy and Freedom we have here. https://t.co/SMGu9j3qc4

— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 2, 2019

His comments about democracy, freedom and human rights are spot on; we should all be grateful for those things. However, Kanter calling out the Nuggets to control their fans exaggerated the situation; what started as one fan being an idiot turned into a fan base being called out for poor behavior.

Case in point, ESPN later tweet a story that insinuated an insensitive chant was occurring at Pepsi Center during Game 2.

The NBA players' union said it "stands with" @Enes_Kanter, after he requested for the Nuggets to control their fans after they chanted "Go back to Turkey, oh wait, you can't," during Game 2. (via @royceyoung) https://t.co/kn7tvM657j

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 3, 2019

That’s a gross misrepresentation of what happened, something ESPN should correct immediately. But it stemmed from Kanter suggesting that the Nuggets organization needed to reign in their unruly fans, which was clearly an overstatement.

But as we’ve seen in the days since, that shouldn’t be surprising. Kanter has a habit of stretching the truth, embellishing facts and playing the victim card.

He addressed the media after Portland’s 4OT win in Game 3 with his shoulder bandaged and ice, adding a visual to the story he told about having to tough his way through the win.

"I had to tuck my arm into my jersey, I couldn't carry my arm…whatever it takes, got to sacrifice everything, it's a playoff game. I'm proud of my teammates" @Enes_Kanter on playing through his shoulder injury in a 4OT game #RipCity pic.twitter.com/xQE66NWIau

— Orlando Sanchez (@orlandokgw) May 4, 2019

Since the start of the series, Kanter has garnered attention and received praise for playing through the pain. But at this point, things turned. It became apparent that the center was milking the “warrior” role that the Blazers media, as well as a lot of national outlets, had bestowed upon him. He was clearly trying too hard to live up to the perception.

But it didn’t end on Friday night. The day after the game, Kanter went to social media to continue the myth building.

First, the center posted a photo of him in the team’s training room, getting some sort of pregame or postgame treatment for his oft-reported injured shoulder.

Whatever it freaking takes #RipCity pic.twitter.com/ok9l0Mf5I8

— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 4, 2019

It was a bit melodramatic, without a doubt. But it also rubbed people the wrong way because it broke an unwritten rule – adversities are to be mentioned by others, not you. Kanter isn’t supposed to highlight that he’s playing through pain; that’s for his teammates, the media and fans to point out. This screams, “Look at me!” And that’s always off-putting.

Later in the day, the Blazer posted another tweet that got under people’s skin.

Take a freaking look at this please @OfficialNBARefs @NBAOfficial pic.twitter.com/pBtR51ycLi

— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 4, 2019

Using social media to lobby for calls seemed a little desperate. Trying to portray Nikola Jokic as an overly physical, borderline dirty player was a massive stretch. And showing a video that highlights a total unwillingness on his part to fight back was a bad way to garner sympathy.

By and large, both posts backfired badly on Kanter. He was universally roasted on Twitter, and not just by Nuggets fans.

Kyle Keefe and Mark Rycroft, the hilarious studio duo for Avalanche games on Altitude TV, poked fun at the Portland center.

Hey @Enes_Kanter
Everyone is doing it now !@nuggets pic.twitter.com/fRuMUtfENd

— Kyle Keefe (@kylekeefetv) May 5, 2019

And many pointed out how Kanter didn’t seem to have any problems lifting his arm during the third quarter of Game 4, when he was wildly arguing a call that went against him.

Take a look at how not-hurt your shoulder looks when you’re too upset to think about it. pic.twitter.com/ZQQg9LfcqB

— Jason Fletcher (@SoFarFletched) May 6, 2019

Enes Kanter is an intelligent guy who is willing to take on causes much bigger than basketball games. For that, he should be universally praised.

Instead, he’s become a bit of a laughingstock. And for that, he has no one to blame but himself.

Follow @jamesmerilatt