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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Ben DuBose

Paul George shows love to Rockets’ Alperen Sengun, compares playmaking to Magic Johnson

With averages of 14.8 points (55.3% FG, 33.3% on 3-pointers), 9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, young Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun took a leap forward in his second NBA season.

Even stars like Nikola Jokic, the back-to-back league MVP, went out of his way during the 2022-23 year to urge Houston to run more offense through its creative 20-year-old big man out of Turkey.

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Now, add eight-time All-Star Paul George — currently of the Los Angeles Clippers — to a growing list of NBA royalty to show respect to Sengun. On a new episode of “Podcast P with Paul George,” George had this to say about Sengun (hat tip Rexwell Villas, Clutch Points):

He’s been doing it all season long and he’s been getting some recognition, but I think more so now. … He’s showing his true personality. His true self is starting to shine through. He’s a big dog. Beast.

He’s got shades of Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol. He’s got shades of Jokic, and the great bigs that can pass, shoot and playmake. I love his game, he can do it all. He’s a super, super high IQ player.

The greatest part of his game is his playmaking. I’ve seen some flashiness where he’s on some Magic (Johnson) type sh*t. He can hoop.

In four games versus the Clippers this season, Sengun averaged 17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 30.5 minutes. He shot 56.8%. It certainly seems to have to have caught George’s attention.

The complete podcast can be viewed below, with the Sengun discussion starting at approximately the 53 minute mark.

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