Photo: dpa / Matt York
Americans love numbers. Especially in sports. They invent the wildest statistics and at the same time exaggerate their true value. This also applies to basketball. Even if the only important thing is which team scores more points, fans of the best league in the world can spend days discussing whether a team wins when it gets more rebounds, plays more passes, loses less ball or simply more money for good ones Player issues.
Even before the new season, which starts two months later than usual due to the corona, many numbers haunted the fan forums: There would be the record salary of 228 million dollars (almost 190 million euros) for the most valuable player of the past season, Giannis Antetokounmpo, recently extended his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks for five years. Or the 72 games per team to which the schedule was shortened. The most important number, however, is 1. In the first tests before the start of preparation at the end of November, 48 professionals, i.e. nine percent of all players, tested positive for the corona virus. In the second week eight cases were added, in the third the NBA reported only “1”. It seems the league has gotten a grip on the problem.
Nevertheless, there is great fear of the virus. The clubs fear less severe illnesses among the young athletes, but rather a season that is completely out of hand due to corona outbreaks, which should end with the playoffs in July just before the Olympics. In the National Football League NFL, there were even 156 corona cases within two weeks in November. However, the teams there only play once at the weekend, so that not so many games are canceled if a team has to be quarantined. Thanks to a few catch-up games, the NFL is back on track.
It would not be that easy with basketball players, because the NBA already hosts four games in a ten-day quarantine period. Catch-up games are difficult to schedule. Nevertheless, the league does not want to play the championship title again in an isolated bubble. That’s how she ended the previous season. But that should remain the exception. “There will be positive tests. You just expect that, «said national player Moritz Wagner of the German press agency. “That is a challenge. Everyone has to take responsibility themselves: pay attention to how and with whom you spend the time off the pitch, ”said the forward, who will continue to play with his German colleague Isaac Bonga at the Washington Wizards.
In contrast, the best German player has moved from the tranquil Oklahoma City to the metropolis of Los Angeles: Dennis Schröder switched to the reigning title holder in the fall and suddenly has the chance to become the second German NBA champion after Dirk Nowitzki. After all, he is now playing for the Lakers alongside superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And even if Schröder is reluctant to talk about the championship before the first game, he knows what is expected of him: “The organization wants to successfully defend its title. That is the mission. “
It is still uncertain whether Schröder will finally be back in the starting line-up in Los Angeles or, as was the case recently in Oklahoma, as a point collector from the bank when the stars get their breaks. “I’ve got the bankroll behind me,” he’d said confidently shortly after joining the Lakers. A few days later he sounded more reserved: “I’m trying to help my teammates. Whatever it takes – whether I’m sliding on the floor, rebounding, or stealing the ball. Sit on the bench too, ”said the 27-year-old.
After all, coach Frank Vogel is a fan of the German. “I love the sharpness with which he plays. That mean, combative side of him. You hate that as an opponent and you love it when he’s on your team, «said Vogel after Schröder’s engagement. Even if he didn’t give him a guaranteed starting place, the coach assured him: “He will be one of our most important players and one with many minutes on the field.”
On the offensive, Schröder is unlikely to get almost 19 points per game again as last year. “LeBron has had the ball in his hands for 17 years and makes the decisions. I’m not here to take anything from him. I’m just trying to help him get more victories, «says Schröder about his new role as a noble helper. Apparently, the Lakers hope for the greatest effect in the defense of Schröder. “We got some great players. Dennis can be a plague for the player on the ball, ”said Anthony Davis, looking forward to his new colleague.
For Schröder and the other German NBA professionals – six in number – it is not only the success in their clubs that counts. They also want to be at the Olympics in the summer. The problem: You haven’t qualified yet, and the postponement of the NBA season means that the decisive qualifying tournament will now coincide with the playoffs. “I hope that somehow a rule will be found,” said Schröder in a podcast of the German Basketball Association. He wanted to find an option with the players’ union and league leadership, »so that I can somehow play along. That would be extremely important to me. “
However, it is unlikely that the foreign professionals will prevail by demanding a break. They lack the power to do this. Unless they go on strike and get Giannis Antetokounmpo to participate. He’s not yet at the Olympics with the Greeks. Even the NBA may not want to do without the most expensive and best player.
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