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Created Date: December 22, 2025 17:09
Turkish Basketball Federation President Hidayet Türkoğlu, who made history as the first Turkish athlete to be elected to the 2026 “Hall of Fame” by the International Basketball Federations Association (FIBA), made a statement on the subject.
Türkoğlu, who met with members of the press at the Basketball Development Center, said, “We always came together for the national team before. You never left our national team alone. Today is, of course, one of the days in which me and my family are very excited and proud. FIBA’s honor list, which was announced yesterday, made me and my family really happy. I would like to thank all the officials who deemed us worthy of being here.” he said.
Stating that they will take the country’s basketball to points of pride every day, Türkoğlu continued as follows:
“THIS AWARD SEEMS LIKE AN INDIVIDUAL AWARD, BUT IT IS NEVER AN AWARD YOU RECEIVE ALONE”
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“Sometimes you are at points that you cannot express with words. I am experiencing it right now. Our concentration, as a team, was to bring Turkish basketball to the point where the desired visibility, recognition, monitoring in Türkiye, the success of our clubs both in Turkey and internationally, our achievements in the national teams, make the country’s basketball proud day by day. My family and I did not even know how to be happy as many years have passed. We express that we are very happy and proud. These processes are not easy processes. This award seems like an individual award, but it is never an award you receive alone. Making sacrifices and working day and night for you is a sacrifice. Everyone has a share in this award. It is one of the greatest rewards that people respect your work and are proud of you. The Turkish people have never lost their love, I thank them all from here.”
“I HOPE EVERYONE WILL EXPERIENCE THIS PRIDE AS I EXPERIENCE”
Emphasizing that everyone who served Turkish basketball deserves similar awards, Türkoğlu said, “I was deemed worthy of this award, but I believe that there are many valuable sportsmen and basketball players who have been active and retired in Turkish basketball from the past. All of them represented Türkiye in the best way. Currently, we have very valuable athletes who proudly represent our country abroad and wear the national jersey. I hope everyone will experience this pride that I experience.” made his assessment.
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“I HAD MANY TURNING POINTS”
Underlining that he is not a person who acts with wishes, Hidayet Türkoğlu said:
“One of my greatest successes in my life has always been my self-confidence. I have never been a person who acts with what-ifs throughout my life. I have had many turning points. I feel lucky. I have never had a serious injury that would take me away from basketball, in that sense I was lucky. Every process was important to me. I can say that they are all turning points for me, they all have a meaningful place in my life. It would not be right to single out one from the others. If I were to mention one, my brother also played basketball. I was not even remotely related to it. I went to watch my brother practice and his coach told me. ‘Don’t you think too?’ It was one of my biggest gains when he said and I started. Because that’s how I started. I quit basketball at the age of 37. Until then, both Anadolu Efes, national teams and my NBA career, they all have different value for me.”
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Explaining that there are people with many careers in Turkish basketball, Türkoğlu concluded his words as follows:
“We achieved great success as the national team this summer. I feel a little luckier because as an athlete, I was more self-confident than others in my life, but I never saw myself as different from them. Everyone deserves such successes as much as I do. I was a person who felt a little self-confident in terms of sportsmanship at a young age. Maybe they thought of the development in the USA as a little different, so they deemed me worthy of this award. For me, everyone who wears the national jersey has a great service to Turkish basketball. We also had great responsibilities in our sports lives. We are now doing our job in the best way possible.” “I don’t think there will be any difference in terms of responsibility because I have always been a person who wants to fulfill the responsibilities I take in the best possible way. My working style in my sports life is well known to those who know me.”
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