Children often orient themselves towards their older siblings and choose the same school, the same equipment, or the same game. It has already happened that both siblings successfully played basketball and made it to the NBA.
But the Berliners France and Moritz Wagner were the first German brothers in the best basketball league in the world. The 75th NBA season begins at 1.30pm on Tuesday. The Brooklyn Nets meet reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks, with seven German experts having their opening games in the following days. The streaming service Dazn will broadcast the opening game and 182 other regular season games.
Franz Wagner, now 20, once made his debut for the Alpha Berlin professional team at the age of 16. After graduating from high school, he decided against a professional contract with Alpha and went to college in Michigan. After two successful years, he signed into this year’s NBA Draft and was selected eighth by Orlando Magic.
His brother Moritz Wagner, who is four years older than him, has already traveled from Alpha Berlin to Michigan for the NBA. He has played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics in his three NBA seasons, and joined Orlando Magic late last season. After participating in the Olympics he signed a new contract and now plays on the same team with his brother France.
“Working for your ass in Orlando”
“I and my brother have a very close relationship,” Moritz Wagner said before the season began. The Wagner brothers will not play for the championship for now. The focus on magic is evident in nurturing young players. “I’m going to work my ass in Orlando to become the best basketball player,” says newcomer Franz Wagner.
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Maximilian Kleber is currently the highest paid German NBA player with a salary of around US $ 7.8 million. He enters his fifth season with Dallas Mavericks. Klepper is not a stand-alone player with a lot of points or other figures. But he is very important with Mavericks their superstar Luca Tansik. “The play-offs are a very clear goal for us, and then a new season will begin,” Kleber believes.
Daniel Thees, 29, enters the fifth season of the NBA. Before he was in the United States, the center played for seven years in the German Bundesliga. That summer he signed a contract with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have not been a great team since James Horton departed in January. As an experienced player, Thees accepts the role of mentor for skills, and at the center he needs to get a lot of work time.
Construction player Dennis Schrder focused several times this summer. $ 84 million contract from Los Angeles Lakers He turned it down at first because he hoped he would get a better chance in the summer. But with that, Schrder gambled on himself.
New chapter for Dennis Schrder
He also missed the Olympics with the German national team for insurance reasons. He eventually ended up with the Boston Celtics, where he will earn a relatively manageable $ 5.9 million next year. “I’m 28 years old and I’ll be playing in the NBA for a long time. Money is not everything,” Schrder said.
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For Isaac Bonga, a new chapter is pending at a new club. The 21-year-old winger has been employed by Washington mentors for the past few years. That summer he went to the Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian team in the NBA. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Thanks to good performance in preparation and training camp, he was able to finish last on the Raptors team. Even with Isaiah Hortenstein, it has not been known for a long time whether he will finally join the Los Angeles Clippers team.
All NBA teams have an extended squad prepared, but at the start of the season only 15 players were on the team, the others were dropped from the squad or have to prove themselves in the G-League, the training league. Eventually, Hortenstein was able to convince the Clippers that, like Ponga in Toronto, he finished last on the team.
A total of seven German players are on contract in the NBA this season. The first German couple will grow up with experience in Orlando. Kleber, Schrder and Hortenstein could at least hope for the play-offs with their clubs, and then maybe even title opportunities there.
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