SAN FRANCISCO — Which house are you, Alpi?
In November, the Rockets were at shootaround at Chase Center when a Houston staff member posed the classic Harry Potter question to Alperen Şengün, the team’s two-time All-Star center — who also happens to be quite possibly the NBA’s biggest Potter fan.
“Gryffindor,” the 6-foot-11 Şengün responded, referring to one of the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Naturally, Gryffindor is the house that claims Potter himself.)
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But Şengün’s real-life house also features a monument to the beloved books and film series, a Room of Requirement, if you will.
“I had a Harry Potter room, but now I’m, like, building one,” Şengün said during that November conversation, referring to expanding upon a previous iteration in his new Houston-area home. “I’m painting the room in Harry Potter everything right now. It’s gonna be really cool.”
As Şengün happily described his love for all things Harry Potter, he pulled out his cell phone to offer further proof. He showed a text to his girlfriend, Hannah, with a suggestion: We should start Harry Potter again.
Hannah agreed to the eight-film rewatch (the fifth, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” is his favorite) because, as Şengün put it, “she’s always open to movie nights,” but the Rockets staffer had a different follow-up question.
“She’s fine with having a Harry Potter room?” she asked.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Şengün responded.
To fill that room, Sengun collects memorabilia from the Potterverse. He doesn’t want to reveal exactly what he has, but he leaves open the kind of possibilities that any Potter fan would appreciate. The Sword of Gryffindor, some Nimbus 2000s and a few Firebolts? Everything, it seems, is on the table.
“I have a lot of stuff,” Şengün said. “I have the sword, the mask, the cap. Whatever you think of, I have … all those he has in the movie, I have in my house.”
Months later, with the NBA playoffs underway and Şengün trying to help his Rockets claw out of a 3-1 hole against the Los Angeles Lakers, that shootaround exchange now lands a little differently. The All-Star big man has become one of this franchise’s central figures — a young star whose mix of imagination and craft gives Houston a chance to believe it’s not over yet.
When asked specifically what he loves about Harry Potter, Şengün responded quickly: “The magic. The magic.”
And right now, the Rockets could use a double dose of that.
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If there is magic in the Rockets’ rise in recent seasons, look no further than Şengün.
He helped elevate Houston into the fifth seed in the Western Conference, averaging 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 72 regular-season games. But this year’s first-round series — in which he’s both struggled badly and played the hero at times — have offered another reminder about Sengun’s ability as he’s averaged 22.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists, giving the Rockets a needed offensive lift without injured star Kevin Durant on the floor.
Şengün’s fascination with magic — he uses the term nine times over a brief interview — feels fitting for a player whose game often looks conjured. And he draws a parallel between his day job and his favorite passion.
“I watch a lot of movies, but I’m a magical guy, too,” Şengün said. “I dream about a lot of stuff. And they’re all magical, so I kind of like magical, not-gonna-happen stuff … that’s how I became a Harry Potter fan.”
It all makes sense. Şengün first got into the movies when he was 12 or 13 years old — around the time he made the incredibly difficult decision to leave his family behind in Giresun, Turkey to pursue his basketball dream.
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“All my life was like dreaming about something,” Şengün said of his professional pursuit. “And that (Harry Potter) stuff is about magic and ‘anything can happen,’ so I think that’s what I like the most.”
Now a pro, he has made several trips to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort, each one offering a chance to post on social media or buy more memorabilia for his collection. (“I already have a lot of stuff,” Şengün said. “But if I keep seeing it, I’m gonna keep buying it.”) He dressed up as Potter for Halloween prior to a late October game in 2023. And he once said that he has considered a Harry Potter tattoo.
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The movies, even on repeat, offer a sense of peace. But for being so passionate about the characters and the films, he still has not read the book series.
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“I never had the time,” Şengün said. “But I’m going to read the books. I started one time, and then I couldn’t do it.”
Maybe future team flights will offer the chance to do so — or perhaps bonding with a fellow NBA player over a shared love of the series. New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Poole once dressed up in a Ravenclaw pregame outfit, while Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson has also visited the Universal park. Just don’t expect Rockets guard Reed Sheppard to be the one to debate him on houses or wand lore.
“I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him about Harry Potter,” Sheppard said with a chuckle. “I’m not big into Harry Potter, so that could be why it’s never got brought up … (but) Alpi’s himself. He doesn’t hide anything. He’s a good dude … smiles a lot.”
While Şengün is an admitted super fan who plans trips and decorates rooms around his Harry Potter fandom, he still doesn’t think he belongs in the upper tier of Potter acolytes.
“There are some crazy fans,” Şengün said. “I’m making the room, it looks cool. I like it, too. I lay down with my dogs … I follow a lot of Harry Potter fans, what they buy, how they make their room and everything. Those people are crazy. I’m not that crazy.”
Five months after first discussing the room project, Şengün was asked about the final result as he wrapped up another shootaround in San Francisco.
“The room finished well,” Şengün said, wearing the smile of a man satisfied with his choices. “I think everything is perfect right now.”
Building it became a bonding experience for Şengün and Hannah, and he said she was pleased, too.
“It just looks pretty, really pretty,” he said. “Even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, I think you would like the room. It’s just a cute room.
“Everything is like a magic room.”