Love this from Corbin in todays Trib:
“We had a guy once — No. 32 — that was like that. He liked to initiate contact. This kid likes to initiate contact, too.”
Corbin’s first impression of Kanter also involved some Malone-like qualities.
“He’s got a big body and he runs extremely hard,” Corbin said. “I like how he chases the basketball, too.
“He doesn’t wait for the ball to come to him on rebounds. He goes and gets it. … You really notice his energy and his engine.”
Kanter began playing professionally when he was 15, which forced him to grow up in a hurry. In the Turkish League, older opponents didn’t bother checking for a birth certificate.
“I start playing against 30- and 35-year-old guys,” Kanter said. “That made me tough. … They didn’t say, ‘Oh, he’s a young kid.’ No. [But] they played hard against me.”