Shortly before Christmas there is a serious change among the FC Bayern basketball players. As the club announced on Saturday, the previous head coach Gordon Herbert is leaving the German champions with immediate effect.
After a “trusting exchange,” the 66-year-old Canadian and the Munich club agreed to terminate the collaboration early. Both sides emphasized that the decision was made “for the benefit of the team and the club”. It can be assumed that the separation is also a result of the many recent defeats in the Euroleague. On Friday, the Munich team lost 77:103 in Monaco, it was their eighth defeat in a row, which is why they only occupied the penultimate place among 20 teams. The desired entry into the playoffs is currently not within reach after only five wins from 17 games.
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In the Bundesliga game on Sunday in the sold-out Lanxess Arena in Cologne against Telekom Baskets Bonn, the team will be looked after by Herbert’s previous assistants. A successor as head coach should, if possible, be found by the next Euroleague home game on Tuesday against league leaders Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Herbert took over Munich following the 2024 Olympics and celebrated winning the BBL title in 2025. However, last season they also missed the Euroleague playoffs, where Bayern actually have ambitions for more. In the Bundesliga, FC Bayern is on course with 16:2 points, and in the cup the Munich team also has the top four in their own hall on the 21st/22nd. reached February. But the permanent international slack now led to a separation.
“First of all, we would like to thank Gordie for his work, he was partly responsible for the enormous increase in enthusiasm for basketball in Munich last season,” said sports director Dragan Tarlac after returning from Monaco. “But unfortunately there are situations in sport that require no other option than change.”
Tarlac explained that Herbert was not responsible for the personnel situation after the European Championship summer, in which the German selection also won the European Championship title, the injuries to key players, the complicated game plan and his own absence due to illness. “Nevertheless, we have now reached the point in terms of sport that everyone can see and are obliged to help the team, which always gives everything, with new impulses. We regret this very much and both wished it would be different.”
