Memo Excited About Playing With Kanter
When the Utah Jazz drafted Enes Kanter with the third pick in the 2011 NBA Draft it meant that for the first time in NBA history two Turkish players would play on the same team. Mehmet Okur who has been a member of the Utah Jazz for seven seasons, and the only Turkish player ever to win a NBA Championship and be an All-Star talked about the selection and other topics.Memo13: What dou you think about the Jazz drafting counteryman Enes Kanter? What dou you expect from Enes and the Utah Jazz as well as yourself in the upcoming season?
Okur: As you know there are 6 Turkish players presently in the NBA. I feel that Zaza Pachulia is also Turkish as he has Turkish passport and he grew up in the Turkish system as he had been in Turkey since a very young age. If we count Zaza, with Hidayet Turkoğlu (Orlando Magic), myself, Ersan Ilyasova (Milwaukee Bucks), Omer Asik (Chicago Bulls) and Semih Erden (Cleveland Cavaliers) that makes six Turkish players. Now with the drafting of Enes this will make it seven players. I am very excited that we will be the first Turkish players to ever play on the same NBA team. This will be a major milestone. Since my first days in the NBA, I always hoped that Hidayet and I would play on the same team, and together perhaps win a NBA Championship. It was a dream of mine, and now hopefully we will get there with Enes. We have a very wide big men rotation. I think everyone knows this and everybody will come prepared to do battle in camp. As far as Enes goes, the adjustment he needs to make to the NBA and to Utah in general should be easier because not just myself but my entire family will be there to help him out. Enes has a home already in Utah and I think he is well beware of that. I finished my ninth season in the NBA and I believe that my experiences will benefit him greatly.
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