EuroBasket 2025: Sengun, the new favorite “villain” of Greek fans – The provocations, the irony toward Giannis & Spanoulis’ response

It’s good known that Greek fans emotion to… hatred definite players from clip to time. In the past, Spanish guardant Rudy Fernández held the rubric of the astir disliked player. A fewer years ago, the erstwhile Real Madrid star, who achieved everything with the Spanish nationalist team, passed the torch to Dennis Schröder. The German had caused occupation successful erstwhile losses of Greece to his team, and present helium was erstwhile again successful the spotlight… adjacent earlier the tourney began. The “crown” of the favourite “enemy” of Greek fans has present passed to Alperen Şengün.

The caller Turkish superstar is undeniably a apical player, an NBA All-Star with the Houston Rockets, and volition surely stay astatine the apical level successful the coming years. However, the 23-year-old seems to bask provoking others and, possibly owed to his youth, is hard to contain.

No 1 tin blasted him for celebrating wildly passim the crippled against Greece. After all, qualifying for the EuroBasket last extracurricular Turkey was an accomplishment the state had been waiting for astir 60 years. The occupation began instantly aft the semifinal against Greece past Friday.

Şengün’s remark astir Giannis and Spanoulis–Antetokounmpo’s effect erstwhile needed

The 23-year-old Rockets All-Star spoke aft the crippled against Greece. When asked however they “shut down” Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did not person his champion nighttime against Turkey, helium replied:

“We made Greece play badly. They person a large squad and play well, but we went out, fought, played much aggressively and harder than them, and made our shots. We were better. We enactment Osman connected Giannis with a batch of help. He did an fantabulous job. Giannis is 1 of the champion players successful the world. We tried to assistance Osman, and we did. Giannis is an astonishing player, but not a large passer. We went astatine him and closed the paint.”

To many, this mightiness look similar an “innocent” statement. However, for a 23-year-old player, nary substance his talent, it’s decidedly a “foul” to talk astir the Greek guardant successful this way, fixed that Giannis has doubly been NBA MVP and won a title with the Bucks. Naturally, it caused irritation wrong the Greek nationalist team. However, Vassilis Spanoulis did harm power and, to support everyone focused, initially chose not to respond—just similar Giannis himself.

Both, however, addressed the comments successful yesterday’s property league soon aft Greece won the bronze medal. When asked, the Milwaukee Bucks prima replied:

“I’m idiosyncratic who doesn’t similar to speech much; I fto my crippled speak. I’m entering my 13th play successful the NBA and person won everything. I person a fantastic family, radical who enactment me, and I emotion this mode of life. I support everything inside. Anyone who says atrocious things astir me, astatine the extremity of the time it doesn’t substance due to the fact that you won’t retrieve what they said, but however I responded. I support everything inside. You tin cheque videos of my moments connected YouTube and spot if I’m a bully passer oregon not.”

Vassilis Spanoulis initially did not react, but connected the adjacent question (how helium felt winning a medal arsenic a coach), helium decided to talk out, besides showing enactment for his player, giving an awesome answer:

“Before I answer, I privation to accidental thing astir the erstwhile question. Şengün is excessively young to talk astir Giannis. We heard antithetic ideas from radical who person nary thought astir hoops oregon however Giannis was guarded. That’s nonsense. We missed casual baskets, we didn’t play well. I don’t privation to perceive this nonsense. That’s for wrong and for you. Some of you haven’t adjacent touched a shot to know. It’s nonsense. I’m a antheral who ever tells the truth. I respect Coach Ataman and we person a precise bully relationship. We’re friends, we speech hoops opinions. But that’s a antithetic matter. All these stories drove maine crazy. The information is we had an fantabulous tournament. We played poorly against Turkey.”

Watch the video (at 35 minutes, Spanoulis’ outburst)

Antetokounmpo and Şengün didn’t shingle hands

During the EuroBasket 2025 All-Star Five ceremony, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Alperen Şengün did not shingle hands, dissimilar Dennis Schröder, who warmly shook hands with some the Greek Freak and the Turkish star.

The German prima stood betwixt Giannis and Şengün, and the 2 athletes didn’t shingle hands, exchanging lone glances.

At the aforesaid time, their photograph from the ceremonial drew attention, capturing 2 sides of the aforesaid night: a grin from Giannis, and disappointment from a subordinate who… talked excessively much.

Şengün’s large misstep with Kemal and the “sea” comments

Şengün’s “villain” representation began with his posts aft the crippled against Greece, which sparked reactions arsenic they hinted astatine nationalist content. Initially, the Houston Rockets prima posted an AI-generated photograph showing Kemal successful a seat with each the Turkish nationalist hoops squad players down him. Shortly after, helium shared a bid of photos from the crippled against Greece with the caption: “Wouldn’t it beryllium bully upwind for the sea?” Many interpreted this arsenic a notation to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, arsenic it echoes an anti-Greek saying successful Turkey that successful 1922 they “taught the Greeks to swim.”

If this mentation is accurate, helium did it successful a sly way, arsenic the operation comes from a song—Sıla’s Kafa, released galore years ago, which the Turkish prima abruptly referenced. After hundreds of comments, Şengün disabled comments connected his post.