NBA
Wagner brothers: Distance to “soap opera” NBA important
Basketball player Moritz Wagner (21) plays with his brother Franz in the Orlando Magic in the NBA. photo
© Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP/dpa
Never before in the history of the NBA has a pair of brothers from Germany played together – until Franz and Moritz Wagner ended up with the Orlando Magic. German is now a strategic tool there.
Franz and Moritz Wagner know exactly how extraordinary and precious their situation is. Two brothers from Berlin, both in the NBA, both on the same basketball team at the Orlando Magic.
“I have the advantage that I can compare it and therefore know what it can be like without a sibling in the team and how valuable that is,” reports 25-year-old Moritz Wagner. Subtext: It’s much nicer and better with a sibling.
When he speaks the sentences, Franz, who is four years his junior, is sitting next to him and seems to be listening with only one ear. However, he probably knows most of his big brother’s answers anyway. Even when Moritz was asked about the development of Franz, who, at the latest since his strong performances at the European Championships at home and bronze for the German national team, has also made a name for himself outside of basketball circles and who many people believe is capable of a career like that of Dirk Nowitzki, the 21-year-old seems uninterested.
Maybe he only knows what Moritz will say. Namely: “I will not presume to judge him, but will be there for him as a big brother and enjoy being with him on this journey.”
A pair of German brothers in the NBA
In the fifth NBA year of his career, Moritz Wagner looks at this parallel world with a portion of distance, in which everything is big, a lot is loud, a lot is not honest and very little is really familiar. “This soap opera,” as he calls the NBA, they also often tried to just ignore and “let the drama just be drama.” “Of course it helps to have each other.”
He knows that in the tough business of the NBA, time with his brother can end in a day. The professionals only have a say in transfers in exceptional cases, he himself was already sent from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Washington Wizards and from there to the Boston Celtics. Franz Wagner, on the other hand, has been playing for the Orlando Magic and with his brother since his debut last season.
Moritz Wagner has played well for the Magic since surviving an ankle injury, because of which he not only missed the European Championships but also the start of the NBA season, and most recently as a defender for his “high level” against superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, special praise from the coach Get Jamahl Mosley.
In addition to the newcomer Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, who was selected in eighth place in the draft in 2021 and has since had a rapid learning curve, stands for the future of the Magic. “He will definitely be very, very special,” said national team captain Dennis Schröder. “He works very, very hard, knows exactly which line he is taking.”
In the present, everyone benefits from the Wagner double pack. “We just have chemistry here, there are some things that you don’t have to say and it’s a huge help,” explains Moritz Wagner. “The way you talk to each other and knowing what the other is thinking is a huge benefit.” Then there is the language. “Of course it depends on whether others should hear it or not, but mostly they shouldn’t hear it, and then we speak German,” says Franz Wagner. If words are necessary for communication at all.
