Larkin declares Alperen Şengün no longer Baby Jokic and explains why

In a thrilling EuroBasket group stage finale, Alperen Şengün led Turkey to a 95-90 victory over gold medal favorite Serbia. The game saw Şengün outplay Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, a performance that teammate Shane Larkin says should finally put an end to the "Baby Jokic" nickname.

"I don't think he would want that nickname," Larkin said with a smile. "You can see the similarities with their games. Alperen has big aspirations. Alperen is a very confident kid. Alperen has a very high level of basketball skill and a very high level of talent. The sky is the limit for him. I don’t think he’s anywhere near his ceiling."

Şengün finished the game with a stellar stat line of 28 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists, outshining Jokic, who had 22 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

Larkin added that while the nickname made sense in Şengün's early career, his recent development has made it outdated. "In his younger years, his first year, his second year, you could call him 'Baby Jokic' just because their styles are very similar," Larkin explained. "He's proving during this tournament that he's ready to take that next step. Last year, he was an NBA All-Star, and I think he's going to continue to grow and continue to be a better and better player. That nickname was suiting for him maybe a couple of years ago. But he's much bigger and much better than he was when they gave him that nickname."

Larkin, for his part, also had a stellar night, scoring 23 points and dishing out nine assists in what was his best EuroBasket performance to date. The veteran guard played almost the entire game and expressed his readiness for the challenges ahead.

"I’m a veteran now. I’ve been around for quite some time... I knew that this game and the next games, I may need to play for 40 minutes," Larkin said, acknowledging his need to step up against tougher opponents. "I put a lot of work this summer. This EuroBasket was very important to me because the last time I left with an early injury. I'm thankful to the coaches for pushing me hard to be very ready for these moments."