The World Cup was incredible. When I look back, two moments stand out: when we beat the USA in the semifinals and knew: Hey, now something really, really big is possible. I had played against all the bigs, Austin Reaves from the Los Angeles Lakers, Paolo Banchero from the Orlando Magic, Bobby Portis from the Milwaukee Bucks. When we beat them, it was a moment when we realized: Hey, hey, something really big is happening here.
And the moment when we were in the dressing room with the trophy and realized: We have just become world champions here. After the final against Serbia, when we had everything official behind us, the award ceremony and the mixed zone with the journalists, we went back to the dressing room.
“I called my mom”
We turned up the music, there were calls to the families, then there were beer showers. What did it look like there? Was this a place to celebrate? Completely irrelevant. This was the moment when the tension that had been building up over the weeks for this tournament fell away. I called my mom and my sister.
We players all think and act professionally. We all know that we not only have a lot of games behind us, but also ahead of us. You can’t celebrate that often there, there’s usually no excesses there. But if you become world champion, that’s okay.
There were no cigars involved, but the evening was certainly boozy. If you win the World Cup, that’s really an exceptional situation. It gives you a boost to your self-confidence. Even more people recognize you on the street than after the European Championships, and I have felt a great deal of self-image in the game since then.
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I was so happy, I was completely lost for words. You just lie in each other’s arms. It was particularly warm with Andi Obst. I’ve known him since I was sixteen. We both learned to play basketball in Breitengüßbach in Franconia, went through the program, made it to the Bundesliga and the Euroleague, he with Bayern, I with Alba.
This text comes from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
That’s something special: the two boys from back in Bamberg won the world championship together. The others also have long shared stories. In the youth Bundesliga I played against Braunschweig with Dennis Schröder and Daniel Theis, now NBA professionals. We won then; Unfortunately, Andy was still a year too young to play.
Recorded by Michael Reinsch.
