As Houston’s 2025-26 season progressed, speculation swirled regarding the relationships that Rockets center Alperen Sengun had with teammate Kevin Durant and head coach Ime Udoka.
In a new interview, the two-time NBA All-Star center is clearing things up.
During a conversation with Turkey’s Socrates Magazine, the 23-year-old was asked about some of the controversial narratives surrounding last season’s team.
Regarding his pairing with Durant, Sengun said (via YouTube’s English transcript):
A perception suddenly formed out of nowhere. I’ve never had an argument with KD, not even once. We’ve never raised our voices at each other. We always talk, and we always talk after games, too. We especially talked after games we lost. Like, “What are we doing wrong?” I specifically would ask him, “What do we need to do? Where do you think we made mistakes today? Why didn’t it work out?” I ask him, and he answers.
These things always happen, but like I said, because we’re people who hate losing… you can see that on our faces during games. You can read it on KD’s face. You can read it on my face. You can read it on Ime’s face.
KD also has a massive fanbase. I think about it like this. My fans will never view me negatively. I notice this. Like, there are areas where I perform poorly, and I see that myself. But… they’ll always blame others. I’m not that kind of person, though. I always hold myself accountable. I can’t ease my conscience by shifting the blame to someone else. I don’t like those kinds of excuses, and you can’t get any better that way.
Sengun, who cited the “terrible luck” of Durant’s ill-timed injuries in the 2026 playoffs, was sharply critical of the online discourse regarding last season’s 52-30 team.
“After the games we lost last season, a narrative developed as if we always had to point fingers at someone,” Sengun told Socrates Dergi. “Like, ‘We lost because of Alperen. We lost because of KD. Amen (Thompson) played poorly. Ime coached poorly.’ That kind of narrative kept popping up. But in reality, you’re just losing a ballgame. You can’t win them all.”
“When we lost games, everyone looking from the outside tried to attack us and find any small thing they could pick on. They tried to pit us against each other. Attacking me through the coach. Because there are so many people out there who want to see us fail, you know? That’s actually why I deleted Twitter. After a certain point, I said, ‘What a dangerous place this is.’ It really drains a person mentally. It makes you second-guess and think, ‘Could something that isn’t real actually be true?’ Such wild things came out.”
As one example, Sengun pointed to an online controversy surrounding a postgame quote from Ime Udoka regarding Sengun’s pick-and-roll defense.
“When I first saw that press conference, what Udoka said didn’t hurt or upset me at all,” Sengun said. “Because I’m very close with Ime, I know what he meant in that statement. So it didn’t bother me in the slightest. What he actually meant was that even if I become the best defender in the league five years from now, they’re still going to target me anyway. It’s been that way since he first arrived (in Houston).”
“It’s just that because we suffered a tough loss in that game and the postgame atmosphere was tense, they asked him at such a moment, and since he was a bit frustrated, he answered like that. But because I actually know him personally, I never took it that way. Though of course, social media spun it in that direction, unfortunately.”
Later in the interview, Sengun admitted to playing “terrible defense” in the game (a February 5 home loss to Charlotte) preceding that press conference.
As a final point on Udoka, Sengun said he embraces the heightened expectations that accompany being one of the team’s best players. His perspective:
“I like that,” Sengun said. “I view pressure as the coach expecting a lot from me. He’s told me, ‘I get mad at you, but I get mad because I know what you’re capable of. And because I expect it, I want you to be the very best at it.’ That pushes a person. It makes me better, honestly.”
ESPN recently referenced “difficult conversations” between the Rockets and Sengun at the conclusion of last season, and the Turkish star seems quite okay with that type of dialogue. Relative to 2024-25, advanced metrics showed clear slippage defensively during 2025-26.
“Udoka gets angry at the people he values and expects more from,” Sengun concluded. “That’s his character. He’s the type to push people more. He gives those kinds of reactions to players he has higher expectations for. That’s just what’s inside him.”
The complete English transcript is available at YouTube. Other parts of the interview include Sengun’s enthusiasm for the anticipated returns of Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams from injury, as well as the offseason additions of Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanović.
