"Future teammates" - NBA fans react as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Alperen Sengun send united message after tensions boil over on social media

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun seemingly squashed their beef. The two stars had taken shots at each other after their 2025 FIBA EuroBasket game, which started with Sengun's comments about Antetokounmpo's passing.

Following Sengun and Turkey's 94-68 victory, the media wanted to know how they managed to keep Antetokounmpo in check. The Greek Freak was limited to 12 points and only attempted three shots. According to the star center, the focus was on sending double teams to the power forward and force him to give up the ball.

Sengun commented that while Antetokounmpo is an amazing player, he isn't a great passer. The Greek Freak heard about it and clapped back at the Turkish center. He challenged the big man and told him to watch his highlights.

Fan-to-fan interactions significantly increased as a result. To combat it, Sengun and Antetokounmpo cleared the air by having a post together on Instagram.

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“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.” 💯 Antetokounmpo's and Sengun's post read.

Fans chimed in on their post, with some even starting rumors about them potentially being teammates in the future.

"Future teammates," a fan said. "look at giannis and sengun so inspirational," another fan commented. "real competitors can respect each other off the court and still try to dominate when the game starts," one fan said.

Other fans were disappointed that the beef between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Alperen Sengun didn't take off.

"After all this fighting they collab on a post of them hugging?!" someone commented. "In lebrons era players can’t even have light smack talk anymore," a comment read. "I want to see them kill each other on the court !" one fan commented.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo publicly apologized to Turkey for his comments

During the EuroBasket competition, Giannis Antetokounmpo led Greece to the bronze medal. It's his first medal in an international competition, and he decided to celebrate with his fans on an Instagram live.

Some individuals repeatedly sent the Turkish flag in the live chat during the video. This led Antetokounmpo to say:

"Take the f** Turkish flag out here."

Many supporters did not approve of his comments. His wife, Mariah Riddlesprigger, even received death threats amid this issue.

This led Antetokounmpo to issue a public apology on his Instagram story to prevent the situation from further escalating.

"During my live feed, I made an inappropriate comment responding to somebody that was making disrespectful remarks," Giannis Antetokounmpo posted. "My intention was never to offend anyone. AND I'M DEEPLY SORRY. I have nothing but love and respect for turkey and people all around the world."

After this, he made a collaborative post with Sengun on Instagram.

Edited by Dipayan Moitra