by Doug Ammon

For Furkan Aldemir, January 16, 2015 is going to look a lot different than January 16, 2014.

On that date this year, the 6’9” forward will take the floor against the New Orleans Pelicans for what figures to be his 16th career game in the NBA. On that night, he will likely match up at times with MVP candidate and budding superstar Anthony Davis in the post. But if you were to rewind to the same day a year ago, Aldemir would have been preparing to face Australian big man Aleks Maric and Russian squad Lokomotiv Kuban in the third game of the Euroleague Top-16 Playoffs. Instead of the red, white, and blue of the Philadelphia 76ers, he would be adorned in the yellow and red pinstripes of his Turkish League team, Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul.

It’s safe to say Furkan has come a long way since his days growing up in the coastal town of Konak, Turkey.

His NBA dreams began in his youth, and in 2012 he was selected 53rd-overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. But with years remaining on his contract with Galatasaray, he remained in Turkey, seeing his rights dealt to the Houston Rockets and later to the Sixers while he waited.

On December 15, 2014, Aldemir’s wishes finally came to fruition when the Sixers signed the 23-year-old to a four-year contract. Coach Brett Brown wasted no time in acclimating him to the league, as he made his debut the same day against the Boston Celtics. In that game, he played 10 minutes, notching two points, two rebounds, and one assist.

Since that day in December, Aldemir has made solid progress, but he knows there’s still a ways to go for him to become completely comfortable within his new team’s system.

“In Europe, it was my job to rebound. Everyone counted on me to grab the rebounds, so I’m confident in that,” he said of his role with the Sixers. “But I am trying to adapt to set plays, like learning how Michael [Carter-Williams] likes to pass and being in the right spot to catch those passes. In Europe, you don’t really run set plays. It’s more just about stopping the ball, but in the NBA there are such smart players.”

His rebounding talent is undeniable; he has pulled down at least 6 boards in four of his last five games and is doing so while playing less than 19 minutes per game. Ignoring a small sample size, his 4.5 rebounds per game are fourth-most among rookies.

But adjusting to the NBA from a place like Turkey can be difficult and is about much more than just what takes place on the court. For this, Aldemir has looked to fellow Turkish players around the league for guidance.

“Enes Kanter is my good friend from the Under-16 and -17 Turkish National Team, and after the Utah game we went out to grab dinner,” he said. “I also know Omer Asik. We always try to keep in touch. Zaza Pachulia and I played on the same team [in Turkey], and he actually broke a bone on my head once [during practice], which was not a good memory.”

In total, there are nine Turkish-born players in the league today, with 2008 NBA Most Improved Player Hedo Türkoğlu likely being the most well-known. It’s a unique fraternity within the already exlcusive NBA brotherhood.

Young European players like Furkan come from a world away, and the US cities they call home are much different than the ones from which they come. But they don’t call Philadelphia the city of Brotherly Love for nothing.

“I really like the city, it’s just very cold,” he said with a smile. “Where I’m from in Turkey, it’s not like that; it’s warm most of the time. But we are trying to adapt to it. Other than the coldness, everything is great. The people take good care of me, and the fans are great.”

With a multi-year deal in place with the Sixers, Aldemir has time to adjust to his new life in the United States and his new home in Philadelphia. He was a champion in Turkey and he wants the same for his new team.