How a Former Sixer Motivated Joel Embiid to Destroy the Rockets

This past offseason, longtime Sixers wing Furkan Korkmaz joined the Turkish national team at Eurobasket, where he teamed up with Houston Rockets center Alperen Şengün. At one point, Korkmaz made a bold claim about Şengün, saying he was the best center with whom he had ever played.

https://x.com/eurohoopsnet/status/1965459133517406635?s=10

Keep in mind: Korkmaz was on the Sixers from 2017-18 through 2023-24. That gave him a front-row seat to Joel Embiid's emergence as a future league MVP. He did say that Embiid was the best player he ever played with before Şengün, but it appears as though Embiid took that comment as bulletin-board material.

On Thursday, Embiid lit up Şengün and the Rockets with 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. It was only his eighth career triple-double and his first in nearly a full calendar year. He also hadn't pulled down 15 rebounds since Jan. 2, 2024, the date of his second-most recent triple-double—and, notably, before the meniscus injury that derailed his entire 2024-25 campaign.

It seems as though Korkmaz's comments may have added fuel to his fire against Houston.

Former Sixers' player Furkan Korkmaz said back in Sept. 2025: "Until now I thought Joel Embiid was the best player, best center I was playing with, but I think we can tell it's Alperen Sengun now"

Embiid just posted his staredown of Sengun with the caption "Furk..." on IG pic.twitter.com/pMzG60PdNs
— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) January 23, 2026

Did Korkmaz have a real case?

In Korkmaz's defense, the 23-year-old Şengün is still very much on the rise, while Embiid has likely already passed the peak of his powers. Şengün received his first All-Star nod last season and could be a week-and-a-half away from his second straight selection, as he's averaging a career-high 21.3 points and 6.4 assists to go with 9.2 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game.

Although Embiid has made major strides as a passer throughout his NBA career, Şengün has earned the "Baby Jokić" moniker for a reason. He's the best-passing big man this side of Denver and has become a similar fulcrum for his team, particularly with Fred VanVleet sidelined by a torn ACL this season.

Şengün holds a clear edge over Embiid in most statistical categories this year, including effective field-goal percentage and box plus/minus. However, he's still a ways away from legitimately challenging for MVP consideration. He isn't even on the odds leaderboard at FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook at the moment.

Embiid, meanwhile, has seven All-Star selections, five All-NBA nods and the 2022-23 MVP award under his belt. He also led the NBA in scoring in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, and he has been named to two All-Defensive teams as well.

The career trajectories of Şengün and Embiid will pass one another sometime soon, if they haven't already. But Embiid is right to be annoyed by Korkmaz calling Şengün the best big man with whom he's ever played. At Embiid's peak, it's a no-contest.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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