Thunder Forward Enes Kanter Punches a Chair on OKC Bench and Fractures His Forearm
Thunder forward Enes Kanter is going to be sidelined for two months after punching a chair and fracturing his forearm.
Thunder forward Enes Kanter let frustration get the better of him during Oklahoma City’s game against the Mavericks on Thursday night—and it’s likely going to cost him about two months of his 2016-17 NBA season.
During the second quarter of the game, Kanter punched a chair on the Thunder bench during a timeout to try and relieve some of the frustration he was feeling at the time. But unfortunately for him, he hit the chair at an awkward angle, and rather than simply slamming his fist into the padded part of it, he caught his forearm on the metal part of the chair.
Kanter immediately sensed that something was off and rushed back to the Thunder locker room for X-rays, where it was eventually revealed that he had fractured his forearm. The Thunder are scheduled to do a full evaluation on his arm on Friday, but as of right now, it sounds like they’re expecting him to miss about two months due to his freak injury.
Kanter—who has averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game through the first half of the season—didn’t speak with the media after the game. But Russell Westbrook offered up his reaction to the mishap.
"It’s tough, man, especially to do it the way he did it. It’s very unfortunate," Westbrook said. "He’s a strong man, and he’ll be back better. Things happen. If he could take it back, he definitely would. But I think now we have to look forward and try to figure out what the positive things are and get him back as soon as possible."
You can watch Kanter suffer the injury in the clip above. What a bad break, both figuratively and literally, for the Thunder.
