LOS ANGELES — New York center Enes Kanter will not travel to London for the Knicks’ upcoming international game because he believes he could be assassinated for his opposition to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kanter announced his plan Friday night after the Knicks’ 119-112 win over the Lakers. The Knicks later said Kanter also won’t make the trip because of a visa issue.

Kanter will stay in New York while the Knicks travel to face Washington at The O2 arena in London on Jan. 17. He says he can’t travel anywhere except the U.S. and Canada because “there’s a chance I could get killed out there.”

“Sadly, I’m not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president,” Kanter said. “It’s pretty sad that all the stuff affects my career and basketball, because I want to be out there and help my team win. But just because of the one lunatic guy, one maniac, one dictator, I can’t even go out there and do my job. It’s pretty sad.”

Kanter has been a vocal critic of Erdogan for years, once referring to him as “the Hitler of our century.” Kanter’s Turkish passport was revoked in 2017, and an international warrant for his arrest was issued by Turkey.

Kanter is a follower of a U.S.-based Turkish cleric accused by Turkey’s government of masterminding a failed military coup in 2016.

Kanter said it would be “easy” for an attempt on his life to be made in London.

“They’ve got a lot of spies there,” he added. “I think I can get killed there easy. It would be a very ugly situation.”

Kanter’s father, Mehmet, was indicted last year and charged with “membership in a terror group.” The former professor lost his job after the failed military coup even though he publicly disavowed his son and his beliefs.

76ERS: Coach Brett Brown denied a report that Jimmy Butler was disrespectful while questioning his role in the 76ers offense.

A report published on Friday said that Butler recently challenged Brown in a disrespectful way and wants to be utilized differently in the coach’s offensive scheme.

Brown dismissed the report before Saturday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

“I didn’t feel like any of that crossed the line,” Brown said. “He’s vocal. He’s all in and he has opinions, but it’s instigated by me. None of this should surprise anybody. He’s got opinions. He wants to be heard. And he should be heard.”

Butler was not available for comment, and the Sixers said he would not play Saturday night due to an upper respiratory infection.

SATURDAY’S GAME

NUGGETS 123, HORNETS 110: Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 39 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, reserve Paul Millsap added 18 and Western Conference-leading Denver knocked off Charlotte for its 10th straight home victory.

At 26-11, the Nuggets are off to their best NBA start in franchise history.

This also marks the latest they’ve been in first place in the conference since March 16, 1977.

Jokic turned in another impressive stat line, also adding six assists, three steals and one blocked shot.

He was 16 of 29 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line.

JAZZ 110, PISTONS 105: Donovan Mitchell scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half, and Utah rallied from an 18-point, second-quarter deficit to win at Detroit.

76ERS 106, MAVERICKS 100: Joel Embiid had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Simmons added 20 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists as Philadelphia won at home.

PELICANS 133, CAVALIERS 98: Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle both scored 22 points, and visiting New Orleans handed Cleveland its ninth straight loss.

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