Alperen Sengun, the Rockets’ two-time All-Star, is coming off a grueling season where he averaged 20.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 78 games (including the playoffs), where he shot 51.5% from the field and 29.5% from behind the three-point line.
Due to his threat with Kevin Durant, the Rockets were heavily considered the favorites to win their first-round matchup against the Lakers in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. But after losing Durant to an unfortunate injury, all the pressure came on Alperen Sengun’s shoulders. Sadly, the Rockets forced themselves into a 0-3 hole in that series and eventually lost in six games.
Subsequently, Alperen Sengun agreed to do an interview where he reflected on the 2025-26 season as a whole. It was during this interview with Socrates Dergi that Sengun revealed he eventually felt compelled to delete X (formerly known as Twitter) as a means to avoid angry fans who can easily manipulate a player’s headspace.
“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?” Sengun said.
“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.”
Sengun went on to talk about how NBA Twitter often twisted the words of his colleagues in such a manner that were not true to what they wanted the words to represent. There was an incident that Alperen Sengun mentioned where, somewhere in 2025-26, Ime Udoka said Sengun is often targeted on pick-and-rolls, where fans on social media blew it out of proportion.
Moreover, there was a major burner account controversy with Kevin Durant, which brought some potentially ugly narratives to the surface.
Even though Kevin Durant and the Rockets fully denied any credibility or substance to the rumored burner account, hearing about such narratives and rumors midway through the season could make a young player second-guess himself quite a bit and create trust issues in the team.
Therefore, Sengun has cleverly shielded himself from such criticisms that he could face through the season, which could hamper his confidence in the future.
He seems to believe that it will help the team stay focused on what is more important, but it also has the disadvantage of not being able to stay in touch with the news of what is happening in the world.
I agree with the message that for young players, maybe doing that is the right step at first when they are new in the league.
But if they continue to stay off social media, they come across as being scared to face criticism. Therefore, once players reach a certain level of maturity and confidence in what they are doing, they could happily rejoin social media.
Sengun is ending his fifth season in the league. Maybe in a few years, he should consider undoing this decision. But for now, it may be best that he follows his own rule until he wins a playoff series with the Rockets or showcases another leap he may take in his game.
