With the 2024 Paris Olympics right around the corner, the topic of how the NBA style compares to the international brand of basketball has become a major conversation point yet again. But for Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun, the differences between the two don't necessarily make scoring harder in one league and easier in the other. The differences are much more nuanced than that.

Speaking on the Sunday Chat with Fatih Altayli, the Rockets big man admitted that he thought in the past that it was easier to score in the NBA due to how many scoring explosions there are in the association on a nightly basis. But this wasn't actually the case, as he realized that the clash in styles simply made it difficult for the practitioners of each styles to understand the difficulties that the other brand of basketball encounters on a nightly basis.

“Before you go to the NBA, you think, LeBron scores 50, an unknown player scores 50. You think it’s easier to score there. But when you get there, it’s not like that. I used to say the same, ‘Europe is harder, America is easier.’ But when you go there, you see it. Here, there are more set plays. There, it’s more one-on-one and fast break plays,” Sengun said, via Eurohoops.

Indeed, in the NBA, there is a greater emphasis on heliocentrism. Teams can build their offense around a superstar and flank him with high quality role players who don't exactly have well-rounded games. The pace is also faster, thanks to the immense athleticism players have, whether it's the top-billing superstar on the roster or the 15th man.

Meanwhile, in Europe, there is a more rigid system in place; this then requires all five players on the court to be somewhat skilled with the ball as they're required to be more involved.

These differences give depth to the game of basketball, which the world will see later this week when the 2024 Paris Olympics begin.

Rockets' Alperen Sengun — a walking bucket everywhere around the globe

What made Alperen Sengun such a highly-regarded prospect in the 2021 NBA Draft was that he was carving up defenses in the Turkey Super League at age 18. He averaged 19.2 points and 9.4 rebounds on 64.6 percent shooting from the field, and he was already flashing some playmaking potential, tallying 2.5 dimes a night.

The Rockets saw the skill level Sengun had and decided that he was worth taking a chance on despite the concerns surrounding his foot speed and defensive mobility. Now, Houston has one of the best offensive hubs in the league at the center position, with Sengun echoing the likes of Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis with his breakout 2023-24 campaign.

Last season, Sengun averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, and he did all of that in his age-21 season. This is what renders the NBA vs. Euroleague difficulty argument rather pointless. Talent almost always manages to reign supreme, and hard workers get to bring out the best in themselves, be it in the United States, Turkey, Spain, or wherever it may be around the globe.