Yesterday, Pete Thamel spoke, once again, to Nedim Karakas, the GM of Fenerbahce Ulker, the Turkish Club team that Enes Kanter played for. This time, however, Karakas' quotes may have back fired.
The general argument against Kanter being a professional is that Fenerbahce has an axe to grind. They have a motive -- and a damn good one -- for wanting Kanter to be ineligible. Fenerbahce gets paid a transfer fee if one of their players leaves to go to another European Club team or heads to the NBA. But if Kanter, or anyone else, plays college basketball before becoming a professional, Fenerbahce not only loses out on the transfer fee, but they lose out on having that player suit up for their club.
You don't think Kanter could help win Fenerbahce games or sell tickets?
Even if he doesn't play, it looks like Kanter will enjoy his time in Lexington.(photo credit: Kentucky Registrar)
The thinking is that, by fighting to make Kanter ineligible, Fenerbahce not only will have a chance to get that transfer fee, but will also send a message to any future youngsters with their sights set on the NCAA. Leave Fenerbahce, and they will make your life miserable.
Yesterday's article from Thamel only drove home that point.
All Karakas needs to do is to show Thamel the documents he claims he has that prove Kanter received a salary; that prove he was a professional. Do that, and the case is closed. Kanter will not be allowed to play in the NCAA. That would be what we call taking the high road.
Instead, Karakas chose to rip into Kanter. He reiterated his point that Kanter received over $100,000 from Fenerbahce. He not only disputed the notion that Kanter's father kept meticulous records of what Enes received from Fenerbahce ("On the contrary to what he had said about his academic approach, he himself was the one to negotiate the terms of his son’s salary," Karakas said.), he disputed the father's assertion that furthering his son's academic career played a significant role in their decision to try to play in college in the States. ("Enes has a good basketball potential yet academically, he is not gifted as much," Karakas said.)
To top it off, he also claimed that a $4 million transfer fee would not be worth all that much to his organization.
Karakas comes off bitter and angry, the same way a scorned lover will bad mouth their ex to sway the consensus of opinion. Badmouthing Kanter in the press isn't going to make americans college basketball fans agree with you.
If anything, Karakas is making Kanter out to be a sympathetic figure.
Let's assume Kanter was a professional. He did receive a salary. He is not an amateur right now. Does that make Kanter, who was 17 years old at the time, a bad person for deciding he wanted to come to the States to, at the least, get better as a basketball players, if not to better himself as a person through schooling?
Is Karakas any different than a Grassroots AAU coach that tries to get back at a player that left his team for another club?
I don't have a dog in this fight. If Kanter gets cleared, it certainly be fun to watch him play this season. If he doesn't, I'll feel badly for the kid, but it won't be any skin off my back.
But after reading this last article, I find myself pulling for Kanter for no other reason than to spite Karakas, the prick that is running a kid's name through the mud for no reason other than that kid decided he no longer wanted to play for Karakas' team.
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1 comment:
Typical Fenerbahce behaviour. So arrogant and full of themselves at all times. This is not the first time they have done this sort of thing. As recently as last year, they benched Omer Asik for the whole season for having the audacity to ask for his salary that he was owed to be paid to him!!!
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