There’s a cool through-line in recent Utah Jazz tradition that links two of its big men through culture and time — and, briefly, as teammates in Utah. Current Jazz big man Enes Kanter came into the league just as Utah favorite Mehmet Okur was on his way out, due in large part to an Achilles injury that cut Okur’s career short. But for a short while, the two Turkish giants shared the Jazz locker room. There, Okur served as a mentor for the young Kanter, though their time together lasted just a few months before Okur was traded to New Jersey.
Yet the mutual admiration between the two is still as strong as ever, as evidenced by both parties of late. Kanter took the opportunity to don Okur’s jersey recently when out and about, making sure to label Memo as a Jazz legend in the tweet that accompanied the picture:
How do l look in the @utahjazz legend @MehmetOkur13 's jersey from Turkey :) pic.twitter.com/xx8VoY1oqR
— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) September 17, 2014
Okur, meanwhile, mentioned back in February that he looked forward to mentoring Kanter whenever Okur was back in Salt Lake City:
"The retired center hopes to focus on someone else in his next trip to his old NBA stomping grounds. Enes Kanter, have some free time? “I’d like to take him out and talk to him a little bit, see what happens, try to help him a little bit more,” Okur said. “That’s what I’m going to do the next time I come to town.”"
via Memo to Utah Jazz: Mehmet Okur hopes to help Enes Kanter | Deseret News.
Given Kanter’s picture, it seems fair to say that the two have picked up right where they left off back in 2011. Get ready, Utah Jazz fans — your current Turkish big man is ready to channel your last Turkish legend.