Enes Kanter has survived even death threats from his home country, and a bloodied eye is a walk in the park for the Turkish basketball star.
During the Portland Trail Blazers’ faceoff against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Moda Center, Kanter took an elbow just above his left eye as he was attempting a defensive rebound in the second quarter and collided with teammate Robert Covington.
All that blood flow couldn’t stop Enes Kanter from returning to action
Covington’s elbow left behind a gruesome cut on Kanter as his left eye was reddened due to excessive bleeding and was escorted to the dressing room for first aid to treat the laceration.
Remarkably, the Turk marched back to the court before the start of the second half, unfazed from his injury, and finished the night with a double-double as Trail Blazars edged out sixers 118-114.
“That little cut’s not going to keep me from being out there with my teammates,” Kanter said about his injury, and also revealed that as he was walking back to the dressing room, his teammates saw the dripping blood and teased that the Center was preparing himself for a career in wrestling.
“I love it,” the 28-year-old went on, “that’s my game, going out there and playing physical and channeling everything I can to bring a win for my teammates…It was actually cool just being out there with all of that blood.”
Before sustaining the injury, Kanter clocked 4 points and 9 rebounds in 16 minutes of play. Returning for the second half, the player finished the game with 10 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists.
Coming to the win, it was the 14th victory for the Blazers this season, with Damian Lillard leading the scoring against the visitors with 30 points, along with Carmelo Anthony landing a score of 24.
