Boston Celtics: Enes Kanter benched for basketball reasons

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter has made waves as of late, voicing his opinion on a variety of injustices and human rights issues around the world.

He has always been one of the most outspoken players in the league, most recently calling out the president for meeting with the Chinese government.

On Sunday, Kanter shared a tweet suggesting his lack of playing time early on in the season is correlated with his outspokenness on various social issues. The veteran has only seen the floor in two of the team’s 13 contests, playing a total of ten minutes.

When asked about the tweet, coach Ime Udoka cited basketball reasons for his benching, including his inability to switch defensively, something that the Boston Celtics have constructed their entire defensive system around.

Enes Kanter isn’t playing for the Boston Celtics due to basketball reasons

Despite your opinion on the issues that Kanter is bringing up, there are several reasons why the Turkish big isn’t seeing the floor — all of them relating back to his on-court abilities.

First of all, he’s (at best) the fourth big man on the depth chart, behind the likes of Robert Williams, Al Horford, and Grant Williams.

All of them possess the switch-ability needed to participate in the Celtics’ defensive scheme, something that Enes lacks.

Kanter has a notorious reputation of not being able to defend quicker opponents in the pick-and-roll, leading to his then coach Billy Donovan’s famous comment “Can’t play Kanter.”

The main reason for the C’s improvement since their lackluster start is their tenacious defense, holding opponents to under 40 points in four out of their last six games.

If Udoka would choose to play Kanter, their entire scheme and playstyle would have to change.

He does two things exceptionally well — finish around the rim and create second-chance opportunities.

Since his rookie season, he has been one of the most prolific offensive rebounders in the league.

Therefore, he provides value when the offense grinds to a halt, and you need to keep up with an opposing high-powered attack. If the Celtics aren’t stopping anyone and need some easy points, it makes sense to play Kanter, considering his knack for creating points, in turn giving them up on the other end.

So far, the Boston Celtics haven’t gotten in a situation where it makes sense to play Enes over any other big man. Even Jabari Parker has passed him on the depth chart, as he provides a similar sense of poor defense and instant offense, but provides floor spacing as well.

WithBoston’s current problems, it doesn’t make sense to play Kanter.

Inserting the big man into the game almost guarantees a shootout during his stint, as opposing ball-handlers will attack him on the perimeter and in the pick-and-roll in every chance they can get.

The Celtics’ offense isn’t one that can withstand a shootout at this current juncture, so there’s no reason to play him over a defensively sound center.

Enes Kanter has every right to speak on any social issue he pleases, but his outspokenness is not the reason for his lack of playing time with the Boston Celtics