Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece Coach Clap Back at Rockets' Alperen Sengun

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun's stock is at an all-time high right now. He's immersed as one of the best players in the world at EuroBasket 2025, and is coming off an All-Star season, in which he averaged 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists -- ranking second on the team in the latter two categories.

Sengun's postseason series against the Golden State Warriors was even better, despite being defended by Warriors forward Draymond Green -- easily one of the game's better defenders historically. After the series, Sengun shared his thoughts on the Warriors' response to the officiating during the series.

In fact, Sengun specifically stated that the Warriors were "crying" about fouls throughout the series, drawing a response from Green, who clapped back by reminding Sengun that the Warriors were the victors.

Sengun wasn't exactly throwing shots at the Warriors, he was just sharing his overall views on the series.

In similar fashion, the Rockets center opened up about Turkiye's 94-68 victory over Greece, who featured Milwaukee Bucks superstar and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Sengun made a comment about Antetokounmpo's inability to pass, which went viral. But the devil is always in the details.

The totality of the statement is always important to note. Sengun's full statement is below:

“We just put Ercan [Osmani] on him and we help as much as we can. And Ercan did a great job today. Of course, Giannis is one of the best players in the world, and we just tried to help Ercan, and I think we did [a] good job. “He’s not a great passer,” Sengun said. “He’s an amazing player, but he’s not a great passer. So, we’re just trying to help and jump, close the paint.”

The "not a great passer" line prompted a response from Antetokounmpo, who understandably took issue with the statement.

"I'm a guy who doesn't like to talk a lot. You know, I let my game talk. Im going to my 13th season in the NBA. I've won everything. Everything.

And this was the thing that I hadn't won. And I won."

Antetokounmpo continued.

"I'm not the guy that will talk back to coaches or players or people that say bad things about me. It doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, you won't remember what they say. You'll remember how I respond. So, I keep everything to myself.

You can go see my clips on YouTube. And then come back and ask me if I'm a good passer. There you go. That's it."

Antetokounmpo's coach, Vassilis Spanoulis, had alot more to say.

"Sengun is a very, very small kid to talk about Giannis. Second, you have to know that because we hear a lot of, let's say, different ideas from people that they don't have an idea about basketball, that Turkish team, they lock Giannis. This is bullshit."

This is much ado about nothing.

Sengun complimented Antetokounmpo as a player. He gave him his flowers.

No one would debate the fact that he's one of the game's greatest players, both currently and historically.

There's not a debate to be made.

We don't need to check YouTube to recognize his greatness.

Antetokounmpo's coach is well within his right to defend his star player as well.

Antetokounmpo's decision to clap back and defend his legacy and resume is also well within reason.

Superstars have egos. They want to be praised.

And they'll take any perceived slight and turn it into bulletin board material and motivation.

Perhaps we'll have to wait until the Rockets and Bucks face off to see just how motivated Antetokounmpo is by Sengun's comments.