Houston’s Alperen Sengun has been added to the NBA All-Star Game roster as a replacement for Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had to withdraw due to injury.
Sengun, now Turkey’s first two-time All-Star after being selected last season, will take Gilgeous-Alexander’s spot on the World team for the event on February 15 at the LA Clippers’ home arena in Inglewood, California.
Gilgeous-Alexander is sidelined with a strained abdominal muscle. This season, Sengun is averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 6.3 assists while playing for the Rockets.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is responsible for selecting replacements due to injury. The initial 10 All-Stars are chosen through a weighted voting process involving fans, media, and current NBA players, while the 14 reserve players are selected by a vote among the league’s head coaches.
Recently, Silver also added the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard to the All-Star roster. Leonard’s inclusion was essential to meet the requirement of 16 U.S. All-Stars needed for the new U.S. vs. World format, ensuring each team has at least eight players.
The event features two U.S. teams competing against one World team. They will engage in a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams facing off in the All-Star final. Each of these games will last 12 minutes, equivalent to one standard NBA quarter.
Sengun joins Mehmet Okur as one of only two All-Stars from Turkey; Okur received his sole selection in 2007.
