It’s well known that Greek fans love to… hate certain players from time to time. In the past, Spanish forward Rudy Fernández held the title of the most disliked player. A few years ago, the former Real Madrid star, who achieved everything with the Spanish national team, passed the torch to Dennis Schröder. The German had caused trouble in previous losses of Greece to his team, and now he was once again in the spotlight… even before the tournament began. The “crown” of the favorite “enemy” of Greek fans has now passed to Alperen Şengün.

The new Turkish superstar is undeniably a top player, an NBA All-Star with the Houston Rockets, and will certainly remain at the top level in the coming years. However, the 23-year-old seems to enjoy provoking others and, perhaps due to his youth, is difficult to contain.

No one can blame him for celebrating wildly throughout the game against Greece. After all, qualifying for the EuroBasket final outside Turkey was an achievement the country had been waiting for about 60 years. The problem began immediately after the semifinal against Greece last Friday.

Şengün’s comment about Giannis and Spanoulis–Antetokounmpo’s response when needed

The 23-year-old Rockets All-Star spoke after the game against Greece. When asked how they “shut down” Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did not have his best night against Turkey, he replied:

“We made Greece play badly. They have a great team and play well, but we went out, fought, played more aggressively and harder than them, and made our shots. We were better. We put Osman on Giannis with a lot of help. He did an excellent job. Giannis is one of the best players in the world. We tried to help Osman, and we did. Giannis is an amazing player, but not a great passer. We went at him and closed the paint.”

To many, this might seem like an “innocent” statement. However, for a 23-year-old player, no matter his talent, it’s definitely a “foul” to speak about the Greek forward in this way, given that Giannis has twice been NBA MVP and won a championship with the Bucks. Naturally, it caused irritation within the Greek national team. However, Vassilis Spanoulis did damage control and, to keep everyone focused, initially chose not to respond—just like Giannis himself.

Both, however, addressed the comments in yesterday’s press conference shortly after Greece won the bronze medal. When asked, the Milwaukee Bucks star replied:

“I’m someone who doesn’t like to talk much; I let my game speak. I’m entering my 13th season in the NBA and have won everything. I have a wonderful family, people who support me, and I love this way of life. I keep everything inside. Anyone who says bad things about me, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because you won’t remember what they said, but how I responded. I keep everything inside. You can check videos of my moments on YouTube and see if I’m a good passer or not.”

Vassilis Spanoulis initially did not react, but on the next question (how he felt winning a medal as a coach), he decided to speak out, also showing support for his player, giving an impressive answer:

“Before I answer, I want to say something about the previous question. Şengün is too young to speak about Giannis. We heard different ideas from people who have no idea about basketball or how Giannis was guarded. That’s nonsense. We missed easy baskets, we didn’t play well. I don’t want to hear this nonsense. That’s for inside and for you. Some of you haven’t even touched a ball to know. It’s nonsense. I’m a man who always tells the truth. I respect Coach Ataman and we have a very good relationship. We’re friends, we exchange basketball opinions. But that’s a different matter. All these stories drove me crazy. The truth is we had an excellent tournament. We played poorly against Turkey.”

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

Antetokounmpo and Şengün didn’t shake hands

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

The German star stood between Giannis and Şengün, and the two athletes didn’t shake hands, exchanging only glances.

At the same time, their photo from the ceremony drew attention, capturing two sides of the same night: a smile from Giannis, and disappointment from a player who… talked too much.

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

Şengün’s “villain” image began with his posts after the game against Greece, which sparked reactions as they hinted at nationalist content. Initially, the Houston Rockets star posted an AI-generated photo showing Kemal in a chair with all the Turkish national basketball team players behind him. Shortly after, he shared a series of photos from the game against Greece with the caption: “Wouldn’t it be nice weather for the sea?” Many interpreted this as a reference to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, as it echoes an anti-Greek saying in Turkey that in 1922 they “taught the Greeks to swim.”

If this interpretation is accurate, he did it in a sly way, as the phrase comes from a song—Sıla’s Kafa, released many years ago, which the Turkish star suddenly referenced. After hundreds of comments, Şengün disabled comments on his post.