How Rockets’ Alperen Şengün Can Rebound From Most Overrated Player Rating

The center finished with 12.3% of the vote in The Athletic's anonymous player poll.

Şengün's Rockets lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs. | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

On Wednesday, The Athletic revealed perhaps the most long-awaited (and controversial) result from its infamous NBA player poll: who is the most overrated athlete in the league?

Last season, you'll recall that Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton won (lost?) the accolade, then led his underdog team to a seven-game series in the NBA Finals, which they very well could have won had Haliburton not torn his Achilles early on in Game 7 against the Thunder.

This season, Alperen Şengün was the unlucky recipient.

The Rockets center received 12.3% of the vote for that section of the poll, followed by Rudy Gobert and Trae Young, who were tied at 8.6% each. Subsequent mentions included the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns, the Magic’s Paolo Banchero and the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, among others.

One can assume that Şengün is not exactly pleased. The 23-year-old is a two-time All-Star—having been named to the 2025–26 game as a replacement for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—and finished his most recent campaign with an average of 20.4 points per game, the second-most on Houston behind Kevin Durant (26.0), and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists.

But his defense was also a problem this year, especially during the Rockets’ first-round playoff loss to the Lakers. His impact in that series was middling—nowhere where it needed to be with Durant sidelined, and no Luka Dončić for L.A.

Moreover, the Turkish star’s emotions and attitude on the court have made headlines as of late, most recently when he started beefing with LeBron James during that same series. (James, at one point, appeared to call Şengün a “soft f-----g tall guy.”)

Moments like those seem to have directly played a role in the center’s “most overrated” title.

“He's crying every play. He's talented, but, dude, just play hard," one anonymous player told The Athletic.

All in all, probably not a fun thing to read.

LeBron James had some choice words for Alperen Şengün in a widely memed clip after the Lakers-Rockets playoff series. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

That said, there are upsides here for Şengün, as well as a clear opportunity for him to rebound into a better player than before.

For one thing—and this is incredibly important to note—not every player surveyed by The Athletic answered this question. Which means that, in the end, just ten said Şengün was the most overrated. That's not nearly as big an indictment as it would initially seem.

Moreover, some of those who did participate in the poll still named Haliburton as one of the most overrated, despite his absence this season. Even LeBron James, indisputably one of the greatest players of all time, was among others receiving votes. That's pretty telling, as well—what is the merit here?

All to say: If I'm Şengün, I'm looking at these results and telling myself to ignore them ... for the most part.

Because the 23-year-old would also be well served to use the survey as motivation, as Haliburton did in 2024–25. Şengün would do well to improve next season (his name has even been thrown around in trade talks), and this could be the push he needs. Plus, the attitude adjustments are a decently easy fix; if it bothers him, the “flopping” narrative should be easy enough to alter.

The big difference, of course, is that Haliburton had the benefit of continuing to play once his name topped the overrated list and could thereby prove his contemporaries wrong. Şengün does not have the same luxury with the Rockets now out of the postseason. But he does have an entire offseason to improve.

These results carry as much meaning as he’d like to attribute to them. If he’d prefer to disregard them entirely, that’s his prerogative. But more likely, his best course of action is to do nothing more than treat this as bulletin board material for next year.

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