Dennis Schroder is one of the leaders of the German national team. On the court he shares this role with Franz Wagner. The Pistons point guard (31 years old and 1.85 meters) was the MVP in the greatest success of German basketball, when in 2023 the national team was proclaimed world champion. However, he does not feel in his country the recognition he believes he deserves. He attributes this, in a controversial statement in which he compares himself to Dirk Nowitzki, to the color of his skin.
“When I was 14 years old, I sat in front of the TV to watch Dirk Nowitzki carry the flag at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Back then I thought: how cool, there is no greater honor. It’s a great honor, but for me it will never be the same as it was for Dirk. I will never receive the same affection in this country, because I have dark skin”, said the captain of the German national team in an interview with ‘Stern’.
Schroder was born in Braunschweig to a German father and a Gambian mother. He started playing basketball at the age of 11, when he gave up skateboarding, and ended up becoming a reference point for the national team, especially since Nowitzki left the national team after Eurobasket 2015. The point guard has achieved some of the country’s most important successes: the aforementioned World Cup, the European bronze medal in 2022 and fourth place at last year’s Olympic Games. However, he has never had the charisma of the legendary power forward, who is considered one of the 50 greatest players of all time.
Nowitzki took Germany to another dimension
Nowitzki, who is now 47 years old, was the one who took German basketball to another dimension. The successes of his era (bronze at the 2002 World Cup and silver at the 2005 EuroBasket) were achieved with much less help than Schroder now has, with teammates with extensive NBA experience, such as the Wagner brothers and Daniel Theis, and many others playing for major EuroLeague clubs.
For me, it will never be the same as it was for Dirk
In addition, he changed basketball in his country with his enormous impact in the NBA, where he achieved amazing feats: champion in 2011 with the Mavericks being MVP, 14 times All Star, played 21 seasons, all of them in Dallas, is the fifth with more games in history (1,522) and the sixth top scorer of all time with 31,560 points. Ahead of him are only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Just behind him is Wilt Chamberlain. Among the great myths of history.
There, Schroder, like most, falls far short. His NBA career already spans 12 seasons in which he has played for nine teams: the Hawks, Thunder, two stints with the Lakers, Celtics, Rockets, Raptors, Nets, Warriors and now the Pistons. He has 842 games under his belt with averages of 13.9 points and 4.9 assists. A very solid career, but incomparable to that of his compatriot.
Before Eurobasket, the point guard was convinced: “We are going to win the title. If I wasn’t convinced of that, I wouldn’t play the tournament and would rather spend my time in Braunschweig”. Perhaps a new success with him as the protagonist would bring him a little closer to Nowitzki’s aura.
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