Kenan Sipahi

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Kenan Sipahi
Fenerbahçe Beko
2021Casademont Zaragoza
2021–2022Beşiktaş
2022–presentPınar Karşıyaka
Career highlights and awards
  • BSL All-Star (2016)
  • FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
    MVP (2013)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Turkey
European U-18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2013 Latvia
U-18 Team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Poland U-18 Team
European U-16 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Montenegro
U-16 Team

Kenan Sipahi (born May 26, 1995) is a Kosovo-born Turkish professional basketball player for Pınar Karşıyaka of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). The point guard descent stands at 6 ft 5.75 in (1.97 m).

Early years

Kenan Sipahi was born in 1995 in Pristina, Kosovo to Xhelal Spahiu and Bisera Spahiu, he has Turkish background.[1][2] Sipahi started playing basketball in Pristina at the age of nine and became a top-level prospect in Turkey at age 15.

Professional career

He made his professional debut in the Turkish League with Tofaş Bursa during the 2010–11 season. He was already playing regularly at the age of 16.

Sipahi made his breakthrough in a 2012–13 season. He played plenty of minutes in the league and EuroChallenge. On January 15, 2013, he scored a game winning three-pointer against Khimik. He averaged 7 points and 2.7 assists in 32 league games.

On September 2, 2013, he signed a three-year contract with option to extend for one season with

Fenerbahçe.[3][4] At the age of 19, he made the roster of Fenerbahçe in the Euroleague. In February 2014, he had season-ending injury, after breaking his arm in Turkish Cup game against Trabzonspor.[5]
In his first Euroleague season with the team, he averaged 2.7 points, 1.1 assists and 1 rebound over 15 games.

On September 30, 2015, he was loaned to Karşıyaka for one season.[6] Over the season, he averaged 7.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in the Turkish League, while also having career-high averages of 5.3 points and 3.7 assists in the Euroleague. On July 1, 2016, he was released from Fenerbahçe.[7]

On July 13, 2016, Sipahi signed a one-year contract with Beşiktaş.[8] On July 18, 2017, he re-signed with Beşiktaş for two more seasons.[9] On August 6, 2019, Sipahi signed a two-year deal with Spanish club Coosur Real Betis.[10]

On July 16, 2020, he has signed with

On June 17, 2021, Sipahi parted ways with the Turkish club once more.

On September 15, 2021, he has signed with Casademont Zaragoza of the Liga ACB.[12] Sipahi parted ways with the team on December 10.[13]

On December 16, 2021, he has signed with

Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[14]

On June 21, 2022, he has signed with Pınar Karşıyaka of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) for as second stint after six years.[15]

Turkish national team

Sipahi is a regular

Turkey's men's basketball national team

Personal life

Sipahi is fluent in Turkish, Albanian, Serbian and English languages.[16]

He married

Albanian model Ilda Abazi in July 2021 in a lavish ceremony at the Ciragan Kempinski palace in Istanbul. [17]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14
Fenerbahçe
15 8 12.6 .517 .364 .700 1.0 1.1 .5 .1 2.7 2.1
2014–15 22 11 9.8 .318 .192 .750 .8 .7 .4 .0 1.6 .2
2015–16 Karşıyaka 10 5 18.9 .358 .200 .688 1.1 3.7 .9 .0 5.3 6.1
Career 47 24 12.6 .381 .228 .700 .9 1.4 .5 .0 2.8 2.0

Accomplishments and awards

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Kosova'nın Gururu Kenan Sipahi Avrupa Basketbol Şampiyonasında". Kosova Haber. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Kenan Sipahi kimdir?". SuperHaber. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Fenerbahce Ulker sign Kenan Sipahi". sportando.net. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Fenerbahçe Ülker'de 3 yeni isim". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 2 July 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Fenerbahce Ulker loses Sipahi for 3 months". euroleague.net. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Fenerbahce officially loans Kenan Sipahi to Pinar Karsiyaka". sportando.com. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Infırmation about Kenan Sipahi contract". Retrieved 2016-07-01.[dead link]
  8. ^ "Kenan Sipahi Beşiktaş Sompo Japan'da". bjk.com.tr (in Turkish). 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  9. ^ Besiktas Sompo Japan re-sign Kenan Sipahi for two seasons
  10. ^ "Kenan Sipahi signs with Real Betis". Sportando. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Fenerbahce welcomes back Sipahi". Eurobasket. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  12. ^ "Kenan Sipahi signs with Casademont Zaragoza". Sportando. September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  13. ^ "Sipahi leaves Zaragoza". Eurobasket. December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  14. ^ "Beşiktaş Icrypex, Kenan Sipahi'nin transferini açıkladı! - Spor Haberi". www.hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  15. ^ "Karşıyaka Kenan Sipahi'yi açıkladı" (in Turkish). basketfaul. June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  16. ^ "Pričaj srpski da te turski košarkaš razume: Kenan Sipahi o duelu sa Srbijom #EuroBasket2017". youtube.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Almeda marries her sister".

External links