Although some may not realize it, the NBA has experienced a big man renaissance over the last few years. Superstars such as Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, as well as second-tier studs such as Domantas Sabonis and Karl-Anthony Towns, have revived what was traditionally the most integral position in basketball decades ago.
This season, another man has joined that group: Alperen Sengun. The Houston Rockets center, who is in his third season out of Turkey, is averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game this year, and multiple All-Star nods seem to be in his immediate future.
Unfortunately, just days ago he suffered a serious leg injury in a win over the Sacramento Kings and had to be taken off the court in a wheelchair. While he reportedly avoided a catastrophic injury, he still sustained a significant ankle sprain and bone bruise.
NBA insider Shams Charania said that Sengun’s ankle injury is a Grade 3 sprain, and while he won’t need to have surgery, his season is, in all likelihood, over.
This is a tough break for a Rockets team that has been holding onto a faint hope that it could sneak into the play-in tournament and perhaps even make the playoffs.
However, doing so is extremely unlikely right now. With a 30-35 record, they’re in 11th place in the Western Conference and are 4.5 games behind the 10th-place Golden State Warriors.
They won’t really have a great opportunity to catch the Warriors, as they only have more game against Stephen Curry and crew this season and have an 0-2 record versus Golden State in the season series.
Hopefully Sengun will recover soon enough so he can have a full summer of training ahead of next season. As good as he already is, the 21-year-old seems to have plenty of room for improvement.
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