As the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks rolled into town for the NBA’s ninth London game the league’s commissioner Adam Silver offered his full backing to Enes Kanter – who stayed in the US for the Knicks’ 101-100 defeat – amid reports that Turkey had requested an Interpol red notice for his extradition and arrest on terrorism charges.

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The Knicks’ Turkish center, who denies all charges, has been heavily critical of Turkey’s president Recep Erdogan, calling him the “Hitler of our Century”. The Turkish authorities in turn have accused him of having links with an armed group behind a failed coup in the country in 2016.

Last month Kanter decided to miss the trip to London fearing he could be “killed by Turkish spies” – and his apprehension only increased on Wednesday when a Turkish state news agency revealed the country was seeking an international warrant for his arrest.

When Silver was asked about the case at a press conference before the game, he made it clear where his sympathies lie. “I think it is very unfortunate Enes Kanter is not here with the New York Knicks but I absolutely understand his reasoning,” he said. “There is nothing more important to me as the commissioner in the league than security and safety of our players, even it is just on social media, so we take very seriously the threats that he received.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Enes Kanter watches his team, the New York Knicks, play the Washington Wizards from his sofa in the US. Photograph: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

Silver also made it clear that the NBA had not intervened to keep Kanter away from London. “There are significant issues that he is dealing with, and I recognise that for the NBA, by virtue of the fact that we’re a global business, we have to pay a lot of attention to those issues as well,” he continued. “I support Enes as a player in this league and I support the platform that our players have to speak out on issues that are important to them.”

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On Wednesday Kanter admitted that he felt “trapped” in the US because of the international warrant for his arrest and reiterated that he did not feel safe coming to Britain. “Erdogan’s long arms are everywhere, so that’s why I didn’t really feel safe to go to London,” he said.

“The Turkish government put a red notice under my name with Interpol when my team was on the flight, still in the air, so if I went to London, as soon as I left the plane they would send me back to Turkey.”

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Kanter, who supports the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen who Turkey blames for being behind the 2016 coup, also denied being a terrorist. “The only thing I terrorise is the rim,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Knicks could have done with Kanter as they lost despite leading 89-77 going into the final quarter. At that stage the Wizards – heavy favourites beforehand – had looked as flat as the 20,000 crowd.

Yet as they began a run, aided by successive three-pointers from Otto Porter Jr and Bradley Beal, they finally went ahead. The teams traded leads in the final two minutes, with the Knicks going ahead 100-99 with just 3.3 secs remaining.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Washington Wizards’ Thomas Bryant (right) celebrates with team-mates Bradley Beal (centre) and Chasson Randle at the end of the game in London. Photograph: Simon Cooper/PA

The match was finally settled at the death when referees ruled that Knicks’ Allonzo Trier was called for goaltending on a layup attempt by Thomas Bryant with 0.4 seconds remaining – giving the Wizards a 101-100 victory.

It was the Knicks 34th loss in 44 games, while the Wizards’ record improves to 17 wins and 18 defeats. But it is not a match that will linger in the memory.