LONDON -- Enes Kanter's absence from the New York Knicks' trip to the United Kingdom amid claims he fears assassination by the authorities in his native Turkey is "very unfortunate," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday.
The 26-year-old center missed Thursday's regular-season game against the Washington Wizards at London's 02 Arena, insisting he is "trapped" in the United States due to his vocal criticism of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Earlier this week, prosecutors from Turkey, which cancelled Kanter's passport in 2017 due to his public backing for Erdogan's political foe Fethullah Gulen, issued an international warrant for his arrest.