Muslim Food Taking Oklahoma Thunder Basketball Team by Storm
- By Gary Nguyen --
- 02 May 2016 --
Halal food hits the spot with NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team has discovered that halal food, a culinary offshoot that strictly follows Islamic dietary laws, can be delicious. The person responsible for the National Basketball Association team's discovery is Enes Kanter, the team's Turkish import. Kanter, a Muslim, presently plays as a reserve center.
Muslim Food Taking Oklahoma Thunder Basketball Team by Storm[/tweetthis]
Executives of the Thunder team took a number of steps to accommodate Kanter's religion when they signed him for a long term in off season. His personal benefits are not restricted to food alone. He has a prayer room assigned exclusively to him in team arena. He also has the right to use Clay Bennett's personal office at the practice center of the team. The latter is the owner of the team. Towels are used as prayer rugs.
The Thunder team ensured that Kanter's first meal in his new job location, Oklahoma City, was made as per halal standards. Team chefs also prepared his meals with separate kitchenware.
The attraction of halal food, however, went beyond the devout. The food conquered its first non-Muslim stomach when Steven Adams, the center player of the Thunder team asked his newly joined Turkish team mate if the latter would share the post-game dinner. Adams told Kanter that he would eat whatever the Kanter is having, and the order was doubled from then on. Other members of the team, like Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook also dug in. Team officials were soon feverishly browsing the Internet for high quality Middle Eastern and Turkish restaurants in the cities they were supposed to play in. All arrangements were made in advance so that the NBA players could be set with adequate quantities of food. Needless to say, all of them have huge appetites.
The team by now had clear preferences of restaurants located in the venues they were supposed to play in. If one goes by the taste buds of Kanter and Adams, Boston is the best U.S. city for halal food. Sacramento comes across as the worst.
Not all the players have developed a love for halal food. One of them is Kevin Durant, the star forward of the team. He joked about the supposedly ordinary treatment he gets when it comes to food. He said that even after playing for nine years, he has to pay for his own food post game, but Kanter gets his own menu a few moments after getting accepted into the team.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a new post-game routine: eating Enes Kanter's halal food. https://t.co/SY1XIPw9ed
— Ben Cohen (@bzcohen) April 28, 2016
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