Photo: FIBA

Every big statistical moment at FIBA EuroBasket 2025 has been highlighted with live alerts, and almost three weeks into the tournament, those alerts have been filled over and over again by one name: Alperen Sengun.

His production has been so overwhelming that the updates could almost be renamed the Alperen Sengun Alert System.

The numbers alone tell the story. In Friday’s win against Greece, Opta highlighted some of the milestones he has already set:

  • He is the first player in the last 30 years to record 150+ points, 50+ rebounds, and 50+ assists in a single EuroBasket.
  • He now owns six EuroBasket double-doubles, tied with Mirsad Turkcan for the most by any Turkish player in three decades.
  • He leads the entire tournament with 114 points scored in the paint, with Giannis Antetokounmpo trailing him at 100.
  • Since the start of EuroBasket 2022, Sengun has grabbed 57 offensive rebounds – 23 more than anyone else.
  • He already has five games with at least 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, tying Luka Doncic for the most in tournament history.
  • Even more impressively, he has five games with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists – something no other player has matched in the last 30 years.

In other words, the 23-year-old is ruling this tournament. Media and fans have been quick to call him the new Turkish emperor of European basketball.

His coach, Ergin Ataman, even turned to humor to underline his dominance: “Give me Alperen Sengun from the Houston Rockets to Panathinaikos, 100 percent we would beat the Houston Rockets,” he joked after one of Türkiye’s wins in Riga.

Opponents, too, have taken notice. Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis praised him openly: “He’s good, he’s talented. How he spins around off the body, he’s really good at this. He’s one of the best. He’s like a baby Jokic. His passing ability, how he makes his teammates better, all credit to him.”

From within the Turkish locker room, Kenan Sipahi highlighted how much Sengun means for the team, while also stressing that it’s a collective effort: “He’s a really smart guy. He loves playing basketball, he’s enjoying it, and he’s helping us a lot. But we’re using him really well, it’s not like we’re giving him the ball and just waiting for him to do something. When we’re feeding him like this, we really can go all the way.”

Even in games where Sengun struggled, he still made the difference. Against Greece, he missed his first eight field goal attempts, but Ataman explained how Sengun continued impacting the game: “Sengun, he was not having a good day, he missed a lot of his shots in the low post, a lot of open shots. But in his character, he always scores and he has assists. He had a triple-double, he was close to another one in the other game, he likes to pass, and he’s a very good passer.”

Ataman didn’t stop there: “Sengun maybe is the best passer in the NBA for a big man.” Nikola Jokic’s fans might disagree, but the fact that this comparison is even being made shows how far Sengun has come.

For his part, Sengun has remained focused on the bigger picture.

“I’m a team player. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win,” he said repeatedly during the tournament. After recording a triple-double in the Quarter-Finals against Poland, he downplayed the achievement: “It wouldn’t mean anything if we would’ve lost today. I’m happy we won, I give my everything on defense and offense, and I’m just happy. What more can I say?”

On the court, he has proven nearly impossible to contain. Guard him one-on-one, and he uses his strength to push defenders under the rim – as Giannis Antetokounmpo discovered. Double-team him, and he’ll find the open man. Dare him to shoot, and he’s capable of making four three-pointers in a game, like he did against Serbia.

“Well, they just left me open. So (I could shoot) confidently. You know… We have to make the open shots, too, otherwise we wouldn’t have had any chances against this Serbia team. So they left me open and I shot with confidence,” Sengun said after that performance.

Sengun’s rise has been steady since his early days. Scouts and coaches noticed him back in 2018, when he led Türkiye to a third-place finish at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket in Novi Sad with 14.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. He later impressed with Bandirma and Besiktas before moving to the NBA, but even then, few expected him to become this dominant, this quickly.

Part of that confidence, Sengun himself admits, comes from working with coach Ataman in the summers: “(Coach Ataman) is using me really well. He puts me everywhere, and that’s who I am. I’m a team player. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win. If it’s defense, it’s defense. If it’s offense, it’s offense, I don’t care. Whatever he tells me, I’ll do it.”

Off the court, Sengun is just as full of energy. In Riga, he was spotted singing along to Athena’s legendary song On Iki Dev Adam, the anthem of Türkiye’s national team. “That’s a legendary song, we still listen to it before the game, it’s part of our pre-game routine. I was just so happy, so I was just singing,” he explained. The lyrics include the line “Şampiyon olacağız” – We will be champions.

Now, just one game remains to make those words come true.

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