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20-Yr-Old Rockets Star Joins Elite List With Anthony Davis, Shaquille O’Neal, and More NBA Icons in History

Published 01/24/2023, 4:40 AM EST

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There is no doubt that the Houston Rockets are struggling to win games this season. Such a slump could be attributed to the team undergoing a major rebuild from scratch. The Rockets have bulked up on a plethora of great young players who will be striking fear in the hearts of their opponents for years to come. Among the rising stars on the Rockets’ roster, one late-bloomer is managing to outshine the rest by a huge margin.

When one thinks about the Houston Rockets’ group of young guns, names like Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. are the first that come to mind. Then players like Jabari Smith Jr. and Kenyon Martin Jr. manage to steal the rest of the spotlight.

Sengun joins Anthony Davis and Shaq

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One player who is potentially under the very same spotlight is the Houston Rockets’ 20-year-old center, Alperen Sengun. The 16th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Sengun has taken a huge leap forward from what many had expected from him.

USA Today via Reuters

In a tweet by Ryan Hollins, Alperen Sengun joined the list of youngest players with 25+ PPG and 14+ RPG in a three-game span since the 1985-86 season. Other notable names who were already on the list were Lakers star Anthony Davis and legend Shaquille O’Neal.

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Another impressive fact about Sengun’s latest accomplishment is that he is the first player on the list who is not a number one pick in the NBA draft. All the other players on the list were lottery picks in their respective years.

Did the Rockets luck out with another center?

The Houston Rockets have a long tradition of honing some elite centers over the decades. The Rockets were blessed with Hakeem Olajuwon who brought the franchise their only two NBA championships. Then the Rockets managed to land ‘The Great Wall of China,’ Yao Ming in the early 2000s.

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It may be time for the Rockets to repeat history once more and try to build around their Turkish center. Alperen Sengun has been breaking records and making new ones on a nightly basis lately. This has led to many claiming that Sengun is the actual future of the Rockets franchise.

Sengun’s game, at times, radiates shades of Nikola Jokic on the floor. Like Jokic, Sengun is not athletically gifted either. However, he uses his basketball IQ and court vision to surpass his opponents with ease.

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Watch This Story – Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr., and other top rookie prospects for NBA draft 2022

Is Sengun the next heir to the long line of glorious centers in the history of the Rockets franchise? Let us know what you think in the comments section down below.

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Written by:

Abhishek Dhariwal

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Abhishek Dhariwal is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He earned his bachelor's degree in English Honors from St. Xavier's College and his master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from AAFT School of Mass Communication and Journalism.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra