There's a new lady in NBA center Enes Kanter's life ... and it's none other than Ariana Rockefeller, great-granddaughter of oil mogul John D. Rockefeller!!
TMZ Sports has learned ... the 28-year-old Portland Trail Blazers player and 38-year-old fashion designer/equestrian have been seeing each other for several months now ... after initially meeting over social media.
Our sources tell us the two quickly bonded over animal rights advocacy ... something that both are very passionate about (Kanter recently opened up about switching to a vegan diet).
In fact, Susan Rockefeller, Ariana's aunt, recently commented on Kanter's pro-vegan Instagram post, saying "Keep inspiring ud83dudc4dplants and food as medicine"
"thank you @arianarockefeller for sharing thisu2764ufe0fu2764ufe0fu2764ufe0f"
We're told Kanter spent much of the past NBA off-season in New York with Ariana .