Alperen Sengun recalls not speaking english when he landed in NBA: ‘I didn’t even know anything about Houston’

Alperen Sengun just appeared on Paul George’s latest podcast episode and spilled the beans on how he’s dealt with his adaptation to the NBA and life in the United States. According to the third-year player, he didn’t even speak English when he was drafted as the 16th overall pick by the Rockets two seasons ago, and remembers a couple of uncomfortable situations because of it. 

The Turkish phenom is already speaking the language very well and opened a door to his world during his appearance on the “Podcast P.” During one of the segments of the interview, he spoke about what happened when he met Adam Silver at the podium of the 2021 NBA Draft.

“I really [messed] up actually, because you know they [his agent] were saying hug him [Adam Silver] . Be comfy next to him. I’m taking my cap and I go next to him,” Sengun recalled. “He wanted to hug me but I just hold his hand. I was so nervous, I didn’t know how to talk because I didn’t know English at that time.”

The tradition is to greet the league commissioner with a hug as you approach the podium, mostly to show appreciation for the opportunity given, but Alperen said he was to nervous and barely gave him a handshake.

“He [Silver] was so nice. He was telling me ‘I’m sorry I don’t know Turkish, I don’t know how to talk with you.’ I said, no problem,” he remembers his reaction. “It wasn’t personal Mr. Silver.”

The 21-year-old admitted he didn’t even know for sure if he was going to be traded. “No, I didn’t know actually,” he shared. “I thought I was going to go before 10th. It was like Orlando, Sacramento, like 8, 9, we passed that, and they said Washington, Charlotte were other teams.

“I knew that they were not going to pick me because I didn’t work out with them. I didn’t even work out with Houston actually.”

Sengun revealed that he didn’t want to play for OKC because he heard the city was boring

Even though his agents insisted that Houston was still interested in his services, he kept thinking about the possibility of ending up in Oklahoma City. Nevertheless, he felt very excited when he learned the Rockets option was a done deal as it offered him a more diverse Eastern European community.

“I didn’t even know anything about Houston. I didn’t even talk or [workout] with them.” Alperen revealed. “My agent kept telling me OKC is so boring; I hope you’re not going over there.”

Alperen Sengun in Year 3:

20.2 PPG
9.1 RPG
5.6 APG
56.7 FG%

No player in NBA history has averaged 20+ PPG, 9+ RPG, 5+ APG and 55+ FG% for a season within their first 3 years in the league. pic.twitter.com/j4IxRM28VJ

— NBA (@NBA) November 28, 2023

Since he didn’t speak the language, it was important for him to find a Turkish community wherever he went. “I was literally happy because there’s something to do over there,” the rising star shared. “There’s a lot of Turkish people over there too, which helped me a lot.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you’ll find many Turkish people in Oklahoma,” George then added.