Shortly after what many consider the best EuroBasket of all time – with Germany taking gold, Turkey silver and Greece bronze medal – tensions flared between Alperen Sengun and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It all started after their semi-final matchup, in which Turkey crushed Greece 94-68. Following the game, Sengun took a shot at Antetokounmpo, saying the game plan was to force the Milwaukee Bucks superstar to pass the ball because he isn’t a good passer. Then, Sengun posted provocative song lyrics on Instagram targeting the Greek people.

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The situation escalated when Turkish fans began threatening Giannis’ wife on IG

Giannis didn’t want to get involved in a beef with Alperen, but during his celebrations on IG live, he told someone to take down a Turkish flag – further fueling already tense relations between the two countries. The situation escalated when Turkish fans began threatening Giannis’ wife on IG. This incident pushed Giannis and Alperen to react.

“We play for the love of our countries. We play for the love of the game. We play with respect. We always remember sports are made to unite us, not divide us,” Giannis posted on his Instagram profile.

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Both apologized through their IG stories to Turkish and Greek fans

The two shared this post together, including a photo of them embracing, in an effort to calm rising tensions. Sengun eventually removed the caption from the original post that provoked the Greek people and both apologized through their IG stories to both Turkish and Greek people, calling for peace.

It seemed the situation had gone a bit too far after Sengun’s comment, even though he had acknowledged that Giannis is one of the best players in the world. Giannis also said that anyone who doubts his passing skills should check his YouTube clips. Meanwhile, Greek coach Vassilis Spanoulis slammed Sengun for disrespecting Giannis.

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“Sengun is a very, very small kid to talk about Giannis,” he said. “Second, we hear a lot of, let’s say, different ideas from people who don’t have an idea about basketball — that Turkish team locked Giannis,” he continued. “This is bulls**t. You know, we were not having a good day.”

Giannis and Alperen saw the situation was heading in the wrong direction

At the individual awards ceremony, where both were named to the All-Tournament starting five, they were the only two who didn’t shake hands, further highlighting the tension. It’s worth noting the long history of strained relations between Greece and Turkey, including centuries of conflict under the Ottoman Empire, culminating in Greece’s nine-year war for independence.

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While there may have been deeper historical undertones to the conflict between these two European superstars, at the end of the day, what matters is that the two young men recognized the situation was heading in the wrong direction and chose to end it themselves.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the International section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.