Şengün is Far Too Young to Talk About Giannis - Greece coach barks after EuroBasket campaign

In the final days of the Men's European Basketball Championship, Turkish players stirred controversy with their statements, drawing responses from both Greeks and Germans.

This led to a war of words involving Ergin Ataman, the Crescent Stars' coach, and Turkey's star player Alperen Şengün,

On Sunday, September 14th, in a match held in Riga, Latvia, Germany defeated Turkey 88-83 to become European champions, two years after securing the world title.

Despite their loss, the continental runners-up remained one of EuroBasket 2025's pleasant surprises.

However, in the tournament's closing days, statements from Alperen Şengün and Ergin Ataman ruffled some feathers among their opponents.

In the European Championship semi-final, Turkey defeated Greece 94-68. Following the victory, the winning team's superstar made some remarks about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek leader.

When asked how his team managed to stop the powerful Milwaukee Bucks basketball player, Şengün responded:

"He's not a great passer. He's an incredible player, you know, but he's not a very good passer. So we tried to crowd the paint."

Two days later, Greece defeated Finland 92-89 to claim their first bronze medal in 16 years, with Antetokounmpo delivering a remarkable performance.

After the game, the two-time NBA MVP was asked to comment on Şengün's statements.

"I'm a guy who doesn't like to talk much. You know, I let my game do the talking. I'm about to start my 13th season in the NBA. I've won everything. Everything."

"I'm not the type of person to respond to coaches or players who 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 responded. So I keep everything to myself," Antetokounmpo began, before sending a direct message to the Turkish player.

"Go watch my YouTube clips. And then come back and ask me if I'm a good passer. Take that!"

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Additionally, Vassilis Spanoulis, Greece's legendary coach, criticized Şengün:

"Şengün is far too young to be talking about Giannis. Secondly, I've heard many, let's say, different ideas from people who have no idea about basketball, claiming Turkey blocked Giannis. That's nonsense."

"It wasn't a good day for us. They played the same defense against Giannis. He missed 4 shots near the basket alone. He found teammates 6 times, but we didn't score. So I don't want to hear that nonsense," Spanoulis said, as quoted by basketnews.com.