Enes Kanter shades Kyrie Irving while praising Kemba Walker

Enes Kanter is set to embark upon his first season with the Boston Celtics, and the center left no doubt he is happy that the organization replaced one superstar with another one.
The Celtics parted ways with the mercurial Kyrie Irving following his tumultuous two seasons with the team, as the superstar point guard elected to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. To replace Irving, the Celtics went out and signed Kemba Walker in free agency.
Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of FS1’s “First Things First,” Kanter shaded Irving by stating he would “definitely” pick Walker as a teammate over the enigmatic star “any day.”
Alluding to “negative energy” he sensed last season surrounding the Celtics, Kanter believes parting ways with Irving will definitely boost team morale.
Further, Kanter only had complimentary things to say about Walker.
“He was in my draft class, I watched him [for] years and years,” Kanter said, via Boston.com. “I know how good of a leader he is, how good of a player he is on and off the court. So I’m like, ‘I think it could be very special. He definitely was one of the biggest reasons.’”
"Kyrie's definitely one of the best point guards. When I was with Portland & we played the Celtics [in Boston] I could feel the chemistry wasn't there. There was like a negative energy. … Kemba is a really good leader. I'll definitely pick Kemba any day over Kyrie."—@EnesKanter pic.twitter.com/W9oVky5KmV
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) August 28, 2019
It merits noting that this is not the first time Kanter has made an unflattering comment about Irving since his arrival on the Celtics, although the last one was much more humorous in nature, as were some of his reasons for signing with Boston.
Reasons why @EnesKanter chose the @celtics:
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) August 28, 2019
Kemba Walker
Celtics fans
TD Garden
and of course Mark and Donnie Wahlberg pic.twitter.com/CuBtQQAvla
It goes without saying that a split between Irving and the Celtics was an inevitable necessity given how poorly things played out during his time in Boston, and Kanter obviously agrees with such a notion.