Turkey national basketball team were contented into a silver medal in the recently-concluded EuroBasket 2025 but Ercan Osmani got a little richer big thanks to his teammate and Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun.
Turkey fell to Germany in the finals but before that, they were able to survive their biggest test which were Greece and NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Milwaukee Bucks star was on a scoring tear before the semis, posting 20 plus points in all the games he played.
Head coach Ergin Ataman was aware of what Antetokounmpo can do and Sengun joined him in encouraging to stop the Greek Freak. The latter assigned Osmani to contain Antetokounmpo. He gave him an extra motivation by promising to give him a Rolex watch if he can hold him to less than 20 points.
“I made a promise to Ercan [Osmani]. If you keep Giannis under 20 points, I’ll buy you a Rolex,” Sengün told reporters last week.
“I will keep my promise and buy him the best Rolex. My brother did his best and fought. I’m really happy.”
Sengun fulfilled his promise and he made sure that fans will see it by posting it on his Instagram story.
S/O to Alperen Şengün.
He told his Turkish teammate Osmani he’d give him a Rolex if he held Giannis to under 20 points in the Eurobasket Semifinals, and Osmani held Giannis to 12.
Great teammate. pic.twitter.com/1qkVWo2G7V
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) September 20, 2025
Alperen Sengun is ready for next level
Sengun challenging his own teamamte, who is older than him, is a sign of his maturity. Rockets fans are hoping that will carry on to the NBA where they are perceived as among the best three teams in the new season.
Several power rankings have them third in the Western Conference behind defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder and Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets. This is all because of the arrival of Kevin Durant and his growth.
He was an All-Star for the first time last February and has been earning the Baby Jokic tag because of the similarity of their game.
His head coach Ime Udoka witnessed his brilliance in EuroBasket and was all praises about him.
“For him, we want him to work on specific things,” Udoka told reporters last week.
“The way they guard him over in Eurobasket, he’s doing a great job of getting high assist numbers, being very efficient.”
European duty is done. Now it is time to keep a close watch on Sengun’s rise. He might not be a Baby Jokic anymore.
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