“Runs his mouth and then loses”: Warriors fans back Giannis Antetokounmpo against Alperen Sengun after EuroBasket handshake snub 

The 2025 EuroBasket ended on Sunday with a rather sour note, fueling a new rivalry in the NBA between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Alperen Sengun. The star bigs locked horns in the semis, in which Sengun’s Turkish team comprehensively beat Greece 94-68.

Turkey held Giannis to only 12 points. He added 12 rebounds and five assists to compensate, but it wasn’t enough. Sengun didn’t hesitate to claim that the Turkish deliberately sent help defense to cover Giannis, claiming he wasn’t a “great passer.”

“He’s an amazing player, you know, but he’s not a great passer,” Sengun told reporters.

Giannis avoided dragging the issue to clap back directly at Sengun's comments, but "The Greek Freak" reminded everyone to watch his YouTube highlights when responding to his counterpart's criticism.

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Their cold war took over the award ceremony on Sunday. As the EuroBasket celebrated the All-Star Five players of the tournament, Alperen Sengun and Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't shake hands.

Warriors fans sought the opportunity to take a dig at Sengun amid their age-old rivalry with the Rockets, which renewed last playoffs in the first round. Here's how they reacted:

warriorsworld

@warriorsworld

Lol runs his mouth and then loses. Again

My Mother's Country Went Back to Back to Back!!!!

@sebguts10

@warriorsworld He’s a Rocket through and through

Reff Van Gundy

@QBetterscope

@warriorsworld Haha he’s so fun to hate on. Can’t stand him

Kevin

@primekev2330

@warriorsworld It makes so much sense for Giannis to be a Warrior. He can drop his n*ts on Sengun face playing w/ Steph

Este Maurial

@Limphjree

@warriorsworld Yeah Im taking Giannis 50 pieces November 9th, hes as petty as Steph when it comes to that

Van 🇵🇸

@thatisvantastic

@warriorsworld I was cheering for germany just bcs i hate his arrogant a**

Giannis Antetokounmpo's coach hits back at "small kid" Alperen Sengun

Giannis Antetokounmpo let his highlights do the talking after Alperen Sengun's criticism of his passing. However, Greece coach Vassilis Spanoulis ensured the Turkish center got back a fitting response. Spanoulis called Sengun a "small kid," schooling him over the narrative that Turkey "locked down" Giannis.

"I want to say something about the previous question you asked Giannis. Sengun is a very, very small kid to talk about Giannis," Spanoulis on Sunday. "Second, we hear a lot of, let's say, different ideas from people who don't have an idea about basketball, that Turkish team lock Giannis. This is bulls**t. You know, we were not having a good day.

"They play the same defense against Giannis. He missed four layups alone. He found more than six times his teammates. We didn't score. So, I don't want to hear this bulls**t. This is bulls**t."

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished the game with five assists. For the tournament, he averaged 4.1 assists, which was impressive, considering his high scoring output of 27.3 points.

His passing game wasn't always "great," but Giannis has improved the aspect yearly, especially in the NBA. He averages 5.0 apg for his career. Over the last two seasons, Giannis has averaged 6.5 apg.

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Arhaan Raje

Arhaan Raje is an Assistant Content Manager and Senior Writer with Sportskeeda's NBA/WNBA team with four years of experience.

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