Alperen Şengün

Alperen Şengün (born 25 July 2002) is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He also represents the senior Turkish national team.

A center, Şengün is considered one of the best Turkish-born prospects in the league, having been the youngest player to win the Basketball Super League's Most Valuable Player Award in 2021 at the age of 18 years and 10 months.

He was selected with the 16th pick in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft.

Alperen Şengün was born in Giresun, northeast Turkey, on 25 July 2002.

His parents wanted him to be a swimmer.

Instead, he preferred basketball, as he was inspired by seeing his older brother play the sport before.

He started playing basketball at the age of eight.

Early on, he competed in both sports simultaneously.

However, due to practical issues, like a lack of necessary time that was needed to train for both sports properly, he had to choose between the two and finally decided to continue with basketball.

In 2012, Şengün began playing youth system basketball with the youth teams of the sports club of Giresun University, where he played until 2014.

After his discovery by head coach Ahmet Gürgen, during a youth sports festival, Şengün moved to Bandırma in northwest Turkey, to join the youth teams of the Turkish club Bandırma, which was then known as Banvit.

By August 2014, he had signed a youth contract with Banvit.

In the 2018–19 season, while competing with Banvit's juniors, Şengün eventually won the Turkish Basketball Youth League championship (which was established in 2017).

Şengün was also named the Turkish Youth League's MVP.

Şengün began his professional club career in the 2018–19 TBL season with Bandırma Kırmızı, of the second-division Turkish First League (TBL).

In 29 games played in Turkey's second division, he averaged 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 21.9 minutes per game.

He shot 47.6 percent from the field overall, 53.6 percent on two-point field goal attempts, 25.9 percent on three-point field goal attempts, and 60.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Şengün joined the first division Turkish Super League (BSL) club Teksüt Bandırma, for the 2019–20 BSL season.

In 22 games played in Turkey's first division, he averaged 5.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game.

He shot 51.1 percent from the field overall, 57.5 percent on two-point field goal attempts, 0–10 on three-point field goal attempts, and 58.6 percent from the free-throw line.

He also played in one of Europe's two secondary-level competitions, the FIBA Basketball Champions League.

During the 2019–20 BCL season, he averaged 6.6 points ans 3.3 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game across 15 games played.

He shot 48.0 percent from the field overall, 53.6 percent on two-point field goal attempts, 31.6 percent three-point field goal attempts, and 63.6 percent from the free-throw line.

In August 2020, Şengün signed a three-year contract with the Turkish club Beşiktaş.

He had an excellent regular season with Beşiktaş, as he averaged 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.7 blocks in 28.3 minutes per game across 29 games played in the Basketball Super League.

On 12 May 2021, he was named the MVP of the BSL's regular season.

On the same day, he announced his decision to enter 2021 NBA draft.

Overall, in Turkey's 2020–21 BSL season, in 28.1 minutes per game, he averaged 18.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks in 34 games played.

He shot 62.6 percent from the field overall, 66.7 percent on two-point field goal attempts, 21.2 percent on three-point field goal attempts, and 81.2 percent from the free-throw line.

He also played with Beşiktaş in the fourth-level European-wide competition, the FIBA Europe Cup.

In the Europe Cup's 2020–21 season, in 29.7 minutes per game, he averaged 23.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and two blocks in three games played.

He shot 71.0 percent from the field overall, 75.9 percent on two-point field goal attempts, 0–2 on three-point field goal attempts, and 69.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Before the 2021 NBA draft, Şengün was originally projected to be a potential lottery draft pick but was instead drafted outside the lottery and was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He was later traded to the Houston Rockets for two future first-round picks.

On 7 August 2021, he signed a contract with the Rockets.

On 20 October, Şengün made his NBA debut, putting up 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals in a 124–106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On 9 March 2022, Şengün scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 139–130 overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

On 26 March, he put up a then-career-high 27 points along with seven rebounds in a 115–98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

After his season as a rookie was over, Şengün had played 72 games while missing the last 10 games due to an injury and started 13 games in the lineup.