Giannis Antetokounmpo had a message for Alperen Sengun after the latter said that the Milwaukee Bucks superstar is not a great passer following Turkey’s win over Greece in the 2025 EuroBasket semifinals two days ago.
Greece bounced back to beat Finland in the bronze medal contest on Sunday. During the post-game press conference, Antetokounmpo was asked to respond to Sengun’s assessment of his game, and he said that his actions speak louder than his words.
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“I’m a guy that don’t want to talk a lot,” said Giannis. “You know, I let my game talk. I’m going to my 13th season in the NBA. I won everything, everything. And this was the thing that I hadn’t won. And I won. I have an incredible family, I think I have incredible people that support me every single day, I’ve built incredible relationships. And I love to carry myself that way.”
Giannis averaged 4.1 assists per game in the 2025 EuroBasket
The Greek Freak had another monster night against Finland on Sunday as he scored a game-high 30 points on 9-11 shooting while also hauling down 17 rebounds with one steal and two blocked shots. Antetokounmpo also co-led his team with six assists.
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For the tournament, Giannis ranked second in points and rebounds at 27.3 and 10.6 per game, respectively. He also averaged 4.1 assists per game, 23rd overall. Antetokounmpo was named to the 2025 EuroBasket All-Star five along with tournament MVP Dennis Schroder, Franz Wagner, Luka Donic, and, well, Sengun. Giannis and Alperen even stood next to each other during the awarding ceremony.
“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 will remember how I respond. So I keep everything to myself. You can go and check my…Go see my clips on YouTube and then come back and ask me if I’m a good passer or not,” he added.
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It didn’t seem like Alperen was dissing Giannis though
Passing has never been one of Antetokounmpo’s strengths. However, as he’s improved his overall game in every year he’s played, Giannis’ passing game has also become leaps and bounds better.
In the last two NBA seasons, he’s averaged 6.5 assists per game, a career-high for the two-time league MVP. Against Turkey in the semis, however, Antetokounmpo was held down to 12 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five turnovers as Greece was blown out by Turkey 69-94.
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“We just put Ercan on him, and we help as much as we can, and Ercan did a good job today. Of course, Giannis is one of the best players in the world, and we just try to help Ercan, and I think we did a good job. He is not like a great passer. He’s an amazing player, but he’s not a great passer, so we’re just trying to help and like jump close to the paint,” said Sengun of Antetokounmpo.
Listening to Alperen’s interview again, it did not sound like he was criticizing Giannis’ passing. He used the words “great passer”, which could easily translate to elite passer. Sure, Antetokounmpo’s improvement as a playmaker and passer is impressive. However, he’s not in the Trae Young or Tyrese Haliburton category and is not especially on the same plane as Magic Johnson or John Stockton, who are considered great passers.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.