Houston Rockets star center Alperen Sengun was remorseful on Saturday for making a sexist remark to a female referee during a game on Wednesday.
Sengun made his first public comments following the Rockets’ 112-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. The 23-year-old had been ejected from Houston’s 114-93 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday after calling official Jenna Reneau a “b—-” multiple times.
“That was immature by me,” Sengun said, per ESPN. “That was just in the moment, and I said some stuff I shouldn’t say, but I felt bad about it.”
The native of Turkey was upset with a no-call on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter. His comments went viral on social media, with enhanced audio revealing what he said to Reneau, in her first season as an NBA staff official.
Sengun said he apologized to Reneau after the game.
“Sometimes you can’t control yourself, but I should have known better,” Sengun said, per ESPN. “But I fixed it and then I went to the locker room and I apologized. I shake (her) hand and said that would never happen again. It just happened in the heat of the moment. Then she understood, and it was good on both ends.”
An All-Star for the first time last season, Sengun averages 20.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 33.9 minutes through 43 games (all starts).
The native of Turkey entered Sunday with career averages of 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 29.1 minutes in 329 regular-season games (267 starts).
Oklahoma City selected Sengun with the 16th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft and traded him the next day, July 29, to the Rockets.
