Enes Kanter was the New York Knicks’ best defender Monday night. Well, outside the whistles, at least.
The Knicks big man carried his very public beef with LeBron James onto the court at Madison Square Garden, jawing at the Cleveland Cavaliers star early in Monday night’s game after James jockeyed with New York rookie Frank Ntilikina.
James and the Cavs got the last laugh, erasing a 23-point deficit to win 104-101. But that didn’t stop Kanter from calling out the King (again) after the game.
“I’ll tell you one thing, this team is really special. You ain’t coming to my house and playing that water bottle flip game again,” Kanter said, via ESPN.com. “I don’t care who you are. What do you call yourself, ‘King,’ ‘Queen,’ ‘Princess,’ whatever you are. We’re going to fight. Nobody out there is going to punk us.”
This is the same guy who’s gotten into it with Kevin Durant and the president of Turkey, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised he took a shot at James in defense of Ntilikina and his teammates.
Kanter’s comments made their way to LeBron after the game, though, and the Cavs superstar responded with characteristic snark while rocking a hat that read, “All Good, Never Better.”
The Cavs are just 7-7 after Monday’s win, so we might disagree with that “Never Better” part. But it appears neither side is backing down in this odd (and one-sided) rivalry.
