After the spectacular game in which Türkiye's Cedi Osman, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the American Basketball League (NBA), shattered a career record with an impressive 7 three-pointers and was the team's top scorer with 29 points, he expressed his joy, saying: "It is such an honor to have achieved such a performance. To be honest, performing so well in the evening made me even more delighted."
After dazzling the crowd at the historic Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Sports Hall in Cleveland, U.S., during the "NBA Turkish Culture Night," Osman beamed with pride as he spoke to the press.
"It was indeed a very special night. We are so fortunate to have four Turkish players in the NBA – Furkan Korkmaz, Alperen Şengün, Ömer Faruk Yurtseven and I. It's a great honor for us to be able to organize such an event, and I was extremely happy to be able to contribute to it with my performance. It was an unforgettable experience," he said.
He added: "This year has definitely been a different ballgame. We're in a strong fourth or fifth place in our conference and our progress has been remarkable. It's been a very successful season for me so far and I'm excited to see what else is in store."
Osman was elated at the return of Donovan Mitchell, the All-Star top five, who had been absent for three games due to groin pain, remarking that the team had become more formidable with his presence.
He said, "It's a pleasure to play with him (Mitchell). He's a star player, a great scorer and he's been a massive help for us – he's really raised the bar."
Osman said his career plan was to stay in the NBA as long as he could, as his dream was to stay there for 10 years or more, and that this could only happen by taking care of himself and improving himself every year.
When posed with the question of whether the number of Turkish players in the NBA will rise, Cedi Osman responded: "I certainly hope so, Türkiye has plenty of gifted players. I'm confident we can and will see a larger representation from the country in the NBA, because the talent is certainly there."
Osman said exuberantly following his stellar performance at the Turkish Culture Night, "It was an absolutely wonderful feeling having everyone share the moment with me. We put together an impressive offensive display, creating an enthralling game for all involved."
The Cleveland Cavaliers, emerged victorious from the matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, with a score of 122-99.
In a memorable performance, Osman broke a career record with 7 remarkable three-pointers and calmly clinched the title of top scorer with a total of 29 points.