Rockets center Alperen Sengun made an eye-opening statement regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo after Turkey defeated Greece for the EuroBasket semifinals.
“He’s not a great passer. He’s an amazing player, you know, but he’s not a great passer. So we just tried to help and jump to close the paint,” Sengun said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews.com.
When asked about Sengun’s comments on Sunday, according to BasketNews, the Bucks superstar replied, “I’m not the guy that will talk back to coaches or players or people that say bad things about me. It doesn’t really matter because at the end of the day, you won’t remember what they say. You’ll remember how I respond. So, I keep everything to myself. You can go see my clips on YouTube. And then come back and ask me if I’m a good passer. There you go. That’s it.”
The disagreement continued on social media but both players later issued apologies for comments they made on Instagram, according to Eurohoops.net.
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- ESPN’s Insiders updated their three-year future rankings of every NBA franchise based on a variety of factors. Not surprisingly, the defending champion Thunder received the top ranking. The Rockets, Knicks, Cavaliers and Clippers rounded out the top five, with the Suns occupying the bottom of the totem pole.
- The Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder‘s NBA G League team, has acquired a 2026 first-round pick and the returning player rights to Steven Richardson from the Wisconsin Herd in exchange for the returning player rights to Cormac Ryan, Thunder beat reporter Rylan Stiles tweets. Ryan joined the Bucks‘ camp roster on an Exhibit 10 deal last week, so this clears the way for him to receive a bonus up to $85,300 if he’s waived and then spends 60 days or more with the Herd.
- Spanish club Joventut Badalona and former Bulls forward Henri Drell have reached an agreement for the next two months with an option to extend until the end of the season, according to Penya.com. Drell played in the EuroBasket tournament with the Estonian national team. Last year, he played 15 games with La Laguna Tenerife. Drell appeared in four games with Chicago during the 2023/24 season.
The clippers ?? Huh ??
I gotta try that ESPN insiders strain , evidently
Giannis will be on a fastbreak and dish to someone to dunk on Sengun.
Segun wants a rep as a trash talker. He just needs to be ready for the back lash from other NBA players.
It was a reasonable honest response to the question: “what was your strategy?”
Giannis isn’t what most would call a “great” passer. Neither is Sengun, for that matter.
They’re both bigs, and the passing is mostly kicking out to someone in the corner from the post.
Agreed on all counts.
And Giannis would definitely accept being called “an amazing player who is good but not great passer.”
Don’t understand what a three year future ranking is. Especially with the way players change teams all the time ……..
Giannis isn’t a good passer. He is still more valuable than Sengun at this point. I want to see their first game next year lols. Sunday Nov 9th at 2:30 CT in Milwaukee.
Agree . Couple extra juicy elements are 1) the whole turkey Greece thing and 2) Rockets/Bucks don’t exactly have a history of love . Remember the Harden Giannis beef ? Hope for more of this