Kanter was born May 20, 1992, in Zürich, Switzerland,[REF] while his father, Mehmet, attained his M.D. from the University of Zurich.
Before moving to the United States, Kanter played under Serdar Apaydın's management for the Fenerbahçe youth squad between 2006 and 2008[REF] and then, during the 2008-09 season, Kanter was a seldom-used reserve for the Fenerbahçe senior team [REF].