Alperen Sengun: Apology for Sexist Remark to Referee

Rockets center Alperen Sengun expressed regret for repeatedly insulting a female referee earlier this week, and said he apologized immediately after the game.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Houston Rockets star center Alperen Sengun expressed regret for repeatedly insulting a referee earlier this week, and said he apologized immediately after the game.

The incident, which resulted in Sengun’s ejection in Wednesday’s 114-93 loss to the Boston Celtics, went viral online in the following days, with enhanced audio making clear his insult to Jenna Reneau.

“It was immaturity on my part,” Sengun said, addressing the incident publicly for the first time after the Rockets’ 112-106 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. “It was a heated moment, and I said things I shouldn’t have said, but I felt bad about it.”

Sengun was ejected after protesting a missed foul on a drive to the basket midway through the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s loss against the Celtics. Houston was trailing by 25 points at the time, and Sengun acknowledged that he took out his frustration on Reneau, who is in her first season as an NBA referee.

Sengun, who had his second triple-double of the season on Sunday with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the win against the Thunder, said he went to the referees’ locker room immediately after Wednesday’s loss to apologize to Reneau.

“Sometimes you can’t control yourself, but I should have known,” Sengun said. “But I fixed it, went to the locker room and apologized. I shook her hand and told her it would never happen again. It just happened in the heat of the moment. She understood, and everything was fine.”